#did it really solve mystery of who the person is in let the light in? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[thoughts-reasons]

dix

#it is the ultimate pun 🤪 #do you think it would've caused the same stir if she wore kermit's new order shirt instead? 😏 #haha i think that reference is so niche defo borderline conspiracist #but don't you think that's the genius of it? ... because they did get away with it🍀 #did it really solve mystery of who the person is in let the light in? 🤷🏻‍♀️ #here there and everywhere 😌🥂 #kermit isn't a fan of sequels #why would the haircut mean anything? #ig that isn't surprising to that lot because everything has to always mean something 🤦🏻‍♀️ #yes malbec is exactly that 😊🍷 #hello 👋🏻 we'll catch one of the night matches before we head back #kermit wants anyone else but djokovic #she's still hoping rafa ties it next year #who are you rooting for? 🎾 #kermit's mailbag the summer they turned petty edition #originanon

[secretsofblackthornhall]

Emma to Cristina

Dear Cristina!

Sorry to startle you, I just wrote “Dear Cristina” with the comma first and it seemed a little down. Thought I would try to spice it up a little. And I want to hear from you because I miss you and it’s highly annoying that you couldn’t be in New York. 

Why did Nene have to pick this exact time to visit you guys? Is it because she has faerie intuition and carefully decided to keep us apart? I mean, no, probably not, she seems like a pretty good person. But still! Show up a week later, Nene! Also disappointed to hear that she didn’t spill anything about what the heck is up in the Seelie Court. I guess if she had given up the court’s secrets to Kieran — who is, technically, the King of the Unseelie Court — the Seelie Queen would consider that “bad” and Nene to be a “traitor,” but that’s nothing compared to how much we want to know what’s up.

Anyway. We’re back from New York, where the weather was much worse than in London, but whatever. We’d sent that picture of the candlesticks from the church to Alec, and he showed them to his mom, who recognized them. She said Robert had brought them along with a bunch of other inherited Lightwood stuff when they left Idris for NYC, and she had no idea what had happened to them since, but they were probably in the NY Institute somewhere. Well, we’ve got the Ghost Sensor, so we said goodbye to Rupert and headed over. (Julian wondered whether Rupert misses us when we’re gone, but it’s hard to tell if ghosts can tell the passage of time. In any case we didn’t find sad faces drawn in the dust when we came back, or anything like that.)

So we saw Jace and Clary, of course, and Alec came to help. I think he was really curious since it’s his family’s stuff. (We were hoping to see Simon and Isabelle but they were off recruiting for Shadowhunter Academy. And Magnus stayed home with the kids. He texted us a video from their apartment where he asked Max and Rafe, “Are we going to help our friends?” and they both shouted, “No!” It was cute. I mean, Max and Rafe were cute. Magnus was maybe milking it a little.)

Finding the candlesticks was…pretty easy, actually, kind of anticlimactic. They were hiding in plain sight in the church’s nave among all the other candlesticks and candelabras and other candle-related things. And the Sensor led us right to them. So maybe they weren’t removed in the Blitz but instead the Lightwoods took them back? Or maybe they were removed and then brought back and sometime after that Robert’s parents took them out of the church? We’ll probably never know, but it also probably doesn’t matter since, whatever, we have them, mystery solved.

In celebration we ordered a pizza and ate it by the light of the candlesticks. New York pizza! It is the best. It hurts to say that a little, as an LA girl, but the truth is the truth. I’d missed it so. Pizza in London is…well, best not to speak of it.

So while we were eating Jace asked Alec if there was any news from Idris, and Julian and I kind of looked at each other because there’s never news from Idris, the Cohort have all shut themselves in there and refuse to come out or let anyone in, you know the deal.

Alec revealed that they had been working on some new variation on fire-messages that would be able to get through the wards around Idris. Mostly using Clary’s power to invent new runes. They’ve been sending them for a while, trying different things, but hadn’t gotten any responses until very recently when they heard from one of my least favorite people, Manuel.

So Alec and Manuel have apparently been sending messages back and forth. Zara refuses to respond and Manuel implied that she didn’t like that he and Alec were talking. Alec thinks he might be lying and Zara might not even know. But Alec also thinks Manuel is tired of being stuck there and might be their way in, since (as we all know) Manuel cares about Manuel above everything else, certainly way more than he cares about the Cohort’s supposed mission. Like Jace said, Zara is a true believer, but Manuel is just an opportunist.

This was all super-interesting, of course, but Julian and I started to feel bad remembering that Alec is, you know, the Consul. Julian said he knew Alec had important Consul stuff to do and it was great that he had come to help find the candlesticks anyway. And then Alec said a really nice thing! He said that their New York crew had always had to work in secret, that they’d always thought of the Clave as the enemy. Well, maybe not the enemy, but not their ally. The Clave they grew up with, you know, locked Jace in the Silent City and refused to believe that Valentine was returning. They would never have thought of going to them for help. So Alec said it was really important to him as Consul to actually be there for the Shadowhunters, to be someone they could know and talk to and bring problems to, rather than hiding. And I guess we did know Alec personally before, and they are his family’s candlesticks, but still, it was nice that he thought of it as part of his Consul duties to help us out, rather than thinking of it as something taking time away from his Real Work. He said this was his Real Work, and we’d better not stop coming to him and Magnus for help.

So then after a while Clary announced that she and I needed to have some girl talk and whisked me off to Taki’s for coffee. Julian she left with Jace and Alec. When last I saw him Jace was guiding him towards the weapons room to take a look at the collection of 17th-century Spanish military swords he’d recently found in one of the church weapons caches somewhere in New York. Julian watched me leave like a puppy being taken to the vet for shots, but I think he had a good time. So he says, anyway.

Clary and I settled into a booth at Taki’s. She wanted to ask me how I was doing, and I started telling her, but she seemed distracted, and I realized that maybe she needed to talk to me about how she was doing. Which turned out to be true. She’s worried because Alec likes to believe the best of people, and he’s really optimistic about the progress they’ve made getting in touch with Manuel, but Clary thinks Zara is a manipulative psycho. On which topic we agree.

“You think it’s a trick?” I said. “Or a trap?”

She said she didn’t know. But then she kind of argued with herself and said she understood how important it was to open up Idris, that she knew the Clave couldn’t survive forever split in two like this.

I said it seemed like it was really weighing heavily on them, and she kind of sighed and gave me the big news, or rather the lack of big news, which is that she and Jace have decided they don’t want to get married until the Clave is reunited. And Simon and Isabelle feel the same way.

“It’s not like there’s any reason to rush,” she said. She was looking out the window as she said it, though, and she sounded kind of sad. “But we don’t want a wedding where all anyone is thinking about is how Idris is off-limits and the Clave is broken.”

She kept looking out the window, so I asked if she saw someone out there, and she kind of looked guilty and turned back to me. “Oh, no, I thought I saw Jace for a minute, but it wasn’t him.”

Finally we got around to how I’m doing and I got to tell her the thing I’m worried about, which you and I have talked about a little. Which is that Julian and I are fixing up this house and I guess…we’re going to move here? Like, move to London. And out of Los Angeles for good. And I haven’t really gotten to think about what that would be like. I was thinking of it as a kind of temporary thing where we would fix up the house and then go home. And it’s easy to feel that way because of all the stuff going on with the Clave.

But for Julian, this will be our new home. And I can’t blame him for wanting that. I mean, for one thing, he’s a Blackthorn and it’s Blackthorn Hall. But we grew up in Los Angeles. I’m an LA girl, all my memories of my parents are of them in Los Angeles. But then we both do have many hard memories from the LA Institute, and it would be nice to put them behind us and get a fresh start. I don’t know. Do you ever find it strange, that you live in New York now? And Faerie? Do you miss the D.F.?

Maybe it’s Idris being out of reach that makes it feel so strange. I grew up always knowing that however spread out the Shadowhunters might be we all had a home together in Idris. It held the Clave together all over the world. But what if Idris is really gone for us, Cristina?

What if it’s gone forever?

Xoxox

Emma

#sobh #secrets of blackthorn hall #emma carstairs #julian blackthorn #clary fairchild #taki's diner #the clave #cristina rosales #blackstairs

[gettinshiggywithit]

!Celebrating your birthday with the BSD boys!

(this is part 1)(pt2{tmrw})(pt3{Wednesday})

scenario:- its your birthday and you're celebrating with the bsd bois!

pairings:- dazai x gn!reader,kunikida x gn!reader, ranpo x gn!reader

Genre:- fluff

Type:- headcannons

↪️Dazai Osamu

I feel like dazai would open with “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! YOURE NOW ONE YEAR CLOSER TO DYING A NATURAL DEATH”

*proceeds to throw around double suicide ideas*

But jokes aside,if you’re not that thrilled at the prospect of aging (and honestly valid) he’ll definitely hype you up.

Like this man CANNOT take a compliment to save his life

But DAM can he dish em out

Probably has a full day of fun activities planned

But if you’re more an introverted and indoor person hed organise a full fun day for just the two of you at his place,movies,presents,couple-y stuff;The Whole SheBang!

Thered definitely be some dangerous activities in there

But hey! Its dazai, he probably knows what hes doin rightt???(spoiler:he doesnt)

The day ends with fireworks (whether by like using actual ones or junichiros light snow ability,we may never know)

And he tells you that theres no one else he’d rather go out as beautifully as the fireworks with~

↪️Kunikida Doppo

Has a DETAILED schedule for your day

Ofc it consist of stuff that he KNOWS you’ll love

If you’re kinda down abt the fact you’re gettin older he’ll just tell you that it’s inevitable and that it is nothing to be worried about

If be sees that that didnt help,(buddy come on) he says that time seems to have frozen for you and that you look as beautiful as the day you met

(WAN tachihara voice:WHATS THIS???? A COMPLIMENT FROM KUNIKIDA??????)

Also when you guys cut a cake at the agency,he gives you a book-shaped package and asks you to open it in private

It was a book of poems, he’d been writing them since the day you first met.and lemme tell you,theyre sweeter and sappier than anyone would ever think him capable of writing

When you thank him for it he just kinda shrugs it off but you can CLEARLY see the blush creeping up his face and can hear the lil crack in his voice

Also uses doppo poet to make you a smol bouquet of your fave flowers

Could he have bought em from a shop? Yes. But did he wanna woo you? Also yes.

What can i say,he’s surprisingly romantic

(Ps:- DO NOTT LET DAZAI GET HIS HANDS ON THAT BOOK OF POEMS!!)

↪️Edogawa Ranpo

Showers you with snacks

Like

Literally AND figuratively

Also allows you to eat some of his(its your special day after all)

Gets you the most insightful and heartfelt gift but also something that you’ve wanted for a while

When you ask him how he knew youd wanted it,he launches into a huge explanation of how he used his special ability to analyse your body language and-yadayadayada

Please tell him ur impressed cos he loves hearin ur praises

Asks poe to write a birthday themed mystery and yall solve it together

(Ofc he doesnt out right asks,he just kinda dares poe that he cant write it...ranpo be ranpo-ing mann)

(But when poe finds out its for you he does it with even more determination than before!!{howww is that eveb possible???})

Karl also gives you a gift cos poe really likes you(you’re nice to him and say his stories are great) (future angst piece???)

Your day will end with a huge ass movie marathon

SOO MANY SNACKS

like u thought he gave u a lot in the beginning

But DAM boi is STOCKED

will feed you throughout the movie and cuddles you close

He just loves spendin this much time with you tbh🥺

please dont repost my work here as your own on any platform all rights belong to me except that of the characters used,their right belong to their respective owners.but these stories? mine.

feedback,likes,reblogs and comments are so very appreciated tbh :’)i hope you enjoyed and ill catch ya next time!

Comments & Reblogs w/ tags >>>>>>>>>>>likes please

Taglist open for anyone who wants!

#bungou stray dogs comfort headcanons #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungou stray dogs dazai #bsd x gender neutral reader #dazai x reader fluff #dazai x reader #dazai headcanons #dazai fluff #bsd kunikida #kunikida x reader #bungou stray dogs kunikida #kunikida headcanons #ranpo bungou stray dogs #ranpo edogawa #ranpo edogawa fluff #edogawa ranpo x reader #ranpo x reader #ranpo fluff #📚jaya’s tales #ranpo headcanons #bsd x reader #bsd fluff #bsd headcanons #bsd hcs #dazai x y/n #kunikida x y/n #ranpo x y/n #dazai x fem reader #ranpo x you #kunikida x you

[bitterie-sweetie]

Redo

Pairing: Wonwoo x reader Genre: fluff WC: 3.5k Warnings: mentions of alcohol

The party was a little crazy and you wake up not remembering who you were making out with last night. Luckily your best friend was there and can help you solve this mystery, right?

Is it bad that the only thing you can remember from last night is making out with some guy?

Yeah, you were wasted out of your mind. The obnoxious pounding of your head and the lack of memories beyond your fourth shot at the party is only further proof of that. But oddly enough, you can clearly remember the stranger's gentle touch, the heat of his mouth, and your heart pounding so hard it might explode.

Which, when you think about it, is the other weird thing. That kind of knee-weakening, heart fluttering type of feeling has only ever been evoked by one person before—

"Y/N? Are you even listening?" Wonwoo waves a hand in front of your face, thankfully interrupting your train of thought. "Are you sure you don't remember anything from last night?"

"Based on the way you keep asking me that, I'm starting to think I'm better off not remembering it," you retort, groaning at the growing headache when you attempt to recall any memories at all. "Anyway, that's exactly why I called you. You're the last person I remember from yesterday, and I need your help."

Wonwoo's instant frown tells you that he's already wary about where this conversation is heading. And sure, he has every right to be after having spent years being dragged into the antics of his closest friend.

In your defense though, the party last night wasn't exactly your idea.

The party was Joshua's holiday party that he was co-hosting with his friend, Jeonghan, at a local bar where one of their friends works. You definitely weren't expecting an invite from Joshua, but there he'd been, handing it to you at the end of your tutorial one day. By this point, you'd already heard the rumours about how their parties tend to be... just a little bit sketchy. They had a bad rep, so to say, but no one ever talked about the reason behind that. Of course that only made you all the more curious.

So really, you were just an innocent guest attending a party that your friend personally invited you to.

And it was a good time, at least to you. But judging by Wonwoo's unamused expression, you're now wondering if you perhaps contributed to this bad rep, whatever it was you ended up doing.

"Yeah so. Did you see who I, um..." You have to pause to figure out how to ask your question without asking it directly. "Like, how I ended up getting home? After leaving the party?"

No response. You can feel him staring at you, likely to be judging you internally, but when you meet his eyes, he looks away.

"Right, okay." You give him a wry smile. "That's fine. I was thinking that retracing my steps from last night might help me recover my memories."

Wonwoo blinks.

"Please? I'll buy you that skin you've been eyeing lately?" The least you can do is try to appeal to his gamer side.

He considers for a moment, acting as if the two of you don't already know what the outcome would be. "Make it two skins."

"Deal. Now let's go do this thing."

An hour later, you're getting a strong sense of deja vu as the two of you head to the dinner spot you were just at yesterday. Nothing has changed within the span of a day—the lights are still up, not yet lit in the fading afternoon sunlight, and the trees are still decorated with the tiny trinkets and colourful tinsel. If anything, it's just slightly quieter on the streets without the same bustle of people out like last night.

The stillness on the streets coupled with Wonwoo's strange silence gives you the opportunity to finally slow down and think about why exactly you want to remember the events from last night. Why are you so adamant on finding this mystery person you were making out with? Truth to be told, you don't really know the answer to that; it was just a kiss after all, albeit a good one, but did it need to mean something? You save the thought to examine later.

"Here we are," Wonwoo breaks the silence. He opens the door to the restaurant and steps aside, waiting for you to enter first. "Anything ring a bell yet?"

You snort. "Please, it's not like I can't remember anything from this early on."

He follows right behind you, and soon, the two of you are seated. You're on the opposite side of the restaurant today, though yesterday's table with the couple currently occupying it is within your field of view.

"Oh yeah?" Wonwoo raises a brow at you. "Then what were we talking about?" He slides a menu your way and then opens his own, though he chooses to stare at you instead of reading it, awaiting a response.

You shoot him a dull look back. "We went over your hatred for the holidays. Sorry—not hatred, but distaste. The crowds are terrible, the lights are way too much, and you obviously don't like the red and green colour combo. Don't even get me started on the music."

When the waitress comes by to take your orders, you snap your mouth shut, hoping she didn't overhear this odd conversation. Wonwoo picks something off the menu as if he'd been reading it, while you end up ordering the same thing as yesterday.

"Wow, is that really how you think of me?"

"Who knows," you shrug, feeling the smug smile on your lips. "But you see, I have a theory that it's not really about any of that at all."

"Really? Go on."

You lean a little closer and gesture for him to do the same, intentionally pausing to up the suspense. "I don't think it's about the holiday or festivities at all. What you actually dislike is the—how do I say this..." you wrack your brain for the right term. "It's the couple-ness of it that you don't like. The whole cuffing season thing, the way couples are all around you, from the moment you step out of the house to when you turn on your screen and those hallmark movies are playing. You hate how love is in the air."

He doesn't respond immediately, and so you take a sip of your water to make your whole demeanour a little more nonchalant. The subject is one you don't bring up much—you may have known him for a long time and are his closest friend, but you still don't know why he's never shown any interest in love. There has never been a crush, a dating app, or someone he vaguely found attractive, and he's never cared much about your love life either and would much rather avoid the topic entirely.

Well, not that you've had much of a love life in a long time.

The crease between Wonwoo's brows deepens as he thinks, and by the time he opens his mouth, his entire face is a look of disdain. "I'll go with answer A: shitty crowds, lights, and colours."

"Bingo. I got it, didn't I?" You push it just a bit more so that maybe then he'll tell you what's really on his mind. But before he can respond, the waitress comes back with the food, and you know you've lost your opportunity.

Wonwoo stays silent for a while as the two of you eat, but you can feel his analytical eyes on you every now and then. He almost looks like he wants to say something, like he's wavering and might actually answer your question instead of avoiding it like you expect him to.

He doesn't, though. In the end, he decides to change the subject. "What about you? Why do you want to find the person you were with last night?"

"Because—"

You stop to think.

Perhaps it's what you remember about it that stirs this feeling in your gut. You remember the way it felt, the softness of his lips and the warmth of his fingers as they gently held you. The absolute tenderness that existed despite the heat of the moment and despite the alcohol in your veins making everything glow as the world spun around you.

And then there were the butterflies, the ones that only come out in the presence of that one special person. You're sure not just anyone could've made you feel like that no matter how inebriated you were, so this stranger had to be someone special. There was definitely something there.

Or so you think. Of course it might've been something you misremembered because of your delusional state last night, but at least it was something you could cling onto, right? You've been telling yourself to get out of this cycle of unrequited love and hopefully move on with your life next year. This would be the perfect excuse, and a much better one than the blind dates that your aunt keeps trying to set up for you.

"My family is still on my back about that blind date," you say, rolling your eyes for extra effect. You might as well lay the foundation now so that you have a back up excuse. "Maybe if I find this person and things work out, then they'll finally stop pestering me about that."

"How are you going to find this person? Surely you're not going to go around kissing strangers until you recover your memories? Do you remember anything about them?" Wonwoo's questions come one after the other, and it's the first time he's so interested in your love life. Usually by this point he'd be looking slightly uncomfortable and then changing the subject, and seeing this odd behaviour makes you wonder if it has anything to do with what happened yesterday.

"I... haven't thought that far," you admit. "I guess finding them isn't that important; I just want to know who they are."

"Does it matter who they are?"

The question surprises you again, so you peer at him, trying to analyze him the way he often does to you. Wonwoo's face doesn't give anything away though; he stares back without moving away once you meet his gaze, almost as if daring you to answer the question. Just like you did earlier when asking about his aversion to the holiday stuff.

"Hey, how are we doing over here?" The waitress stops by just in time.

You send a silent thanks to the greater powers.

After finishing up the meal mostly in silence, you're now heading toward the bar where the party was held last night. It's not too long of a walk from the restaurant, which was good for yesterday when you were trying not to freeze in your party outfit—or, well, maybe it wasn't so good since Wonwoo did pull you in and open up his coat to try to shield you from the wind with it.

What this short walk is also not good for, is today when he seems to use every opportunity to convince you to turn around.

"Are you sure you want to know, Y/N?" Wonwoo slows down his steps beside you until he's practically dragging his feet. "It's not too late to go home. We could watch that movie on your list or put up the new ornaments you bought."

His offer is so strange, not quite unlike your offer to buy him skins for his game, that you nearly accept on the spot. But as tempting as it sounds, today needs to be spent finding the potential love of your life.

You pretend to consider for a moment. "Tempting, but no," you shake your head. "I need to solve this mystery."

He doesn't say anything to that, but you don't give him a chance to before you're speeding up and heading to the next spot.

The sun has now set, and the many coloured lights of the streets are just beginning to light up as the two of you head towards the bar where the party was last night. More people are out and about; couples holding hands as they walk side by side, singles hurrying home, groups of friends heading to the Christmas market nearby. Everyone you look at could potentially be the person you were with last night.

But who could it have been? Surely it couldn't have been the worst-case scenario, your ex—you don't even think he was at the party since you've never talked about him before, but knowing Jeonghan and Joshua, they totally could've found a way to bring him there. Maybe it was the hottie, Mingyu, whose name is the only thing you can remember just because of his thousand-watt smile. Or maybe it was—

No. Your heart gives an involuntary jerk at the thought, and you have to shake your head to get rid of the idea. No, it's not possible at all.

"Y/N?" Wonwoo stops a few steps ahead of you, glancing back with concern at your abrupt stop. "You good?"

"Yeah, of course." You shoot him a quick smile but avoid his gaze. Now you definitely need to get rid of that thought.

The two of you make your way to the bar, but the search is futile the whole way. People are everywhere all around you, walking along the streets and gathered by the bar, and yet, somehow no one you look at seems to fit the picture. You see the same bartender from last night and he greets you with a wave, but his hair is much longer than what you remember about the mystery person, and his lips much thicker.

But you soon realize that the lack of resemblance isn't even the issue. At the back of the bar when you do seem to spot an attractive stranger with similar features to what you remember, your heart still sinks at the thought of having kissed them. And it's the same with every person you look at, which only means one thing: the problem is that you can't possibly imagine ever being in love with them. You can't imagine being in love with anyone other than your best friend.

It feels like hours later when the two of you finally decide to call it a day. 

There's an empty bench just down the street from the bar, close enough to the Christmas market that you get a nice view of the lights when you collapse onto it. The bustle of earlier has calmed down at this late hour, though it does little to calm the nervous pulsing of your heart. You can't quite pinpoint what it is that's making your stomach twist, and it certainly doesn't help that Wonwoo is so close you can see the fresh snowflakes landing on his eyelashes and in his hair.

It'd be nice if this moment could last forever—only the two of you existing as the rest of the world is muffled by the snow.

But nothing lasts forever, and you know that you have to end this and move on with your life.

"It was someone from the party, wasn't it?" you ask tentatively. Wonwoo seems to be analyzing you when he looks over, but otherwise doesn't respond. "And you know who it is."

That earns you a nod.

"I thought so." You heave a sigh, turning away from him to stare at the lights in the distance. No wonder he seems to have been dropping hints all day—the cryptic questions, the subtle slip ups. He can be a really careful guy when he wants to be, but this time it's as if he wants you to know that he knows. And yet, the two of you still spent all day aimlessly retracing your steps. "Then why wouldn't you just tell me who it is?"

"Because," Wonwoo mumbles, "what if it's someone you don't want it to be?"

"Then it would just have been a fun time and nothing more, I guess. Why does that m—"

"What if it's someone that you can't see that way? Someone you'll never be able to have feelings for?"

The question catches you off guard. Here you are, half expecting a name drop at this point after having spent so long searching in vain—you expect him to simply tell you that this mystery person really was your ex or maybe the bartender, or maybe even Joshua himself for whatever reason. Gross. So yes, there might be a list of people you don't want it to be, but what you don't understand is why Wonwoo is making such a big deal out of it.

When you look over at him, there's a sort of apprehension written on his face that he doesn't bother hiding. And while it confuses you why he's taking this so seriously, you can also feel the growing tension in the air between you, making each ticking second veer towards a slope that you'll be unable to turn back from. You never thought this would matter so much, but it's as if everything depends on this one, singular moment. The instant when he reveals the truth.

Why would he care so much about it though? Why would it matter to him who his best friend was drunkenly making out with? Why would he be so oddly hesitant yet curious about what you thought of this person—

"What if you're disappointed by who it is?"

The memories rush back so quickly that you nearly kneel over.

Stumbling out of the bar, finding this exact bench. The world spinning in a kaleidoscopic blur of lights, the warmth of his hands guiding you. You'd sat here and teased him about his distaste for the holidays—you asked if he hated it when you brought him to the Christmas market with you every year, and if he'd much rather not help you put up the tree. You asked why he even went to the holiday party with you this year despite hating both the holidays and parties. 

Then when you looked up...

"The mistletoe." You let out a gasp when you see it right above you, still in the same position it'd been in last night. The very mistletoe that you'd pointed out to Wonwoo and asked him if he hated it too.

If he hated being underneath it with you.

"You remember it now?" he asks quietly. He appears calm, stoic as usual, but it's all too easy to see that there's anxiety swimming just beneath it all.

"Yeah, it's coming back to me now. So that's why you didn't straight up tell me even though you knew all along." You nod to yourself as you put together the pieces.

"We were drunk and caught up in the moment so I didn't think you meant what you said or would even want to remember it. I was going to let you forget it, Y/N, in case you thought it was a mistake."

It all makes sense now. All of that would explain his nervous energy today, the odd questions, the sudden interest. Except there's just one more thing... "But then why did you agree to come with me and retrace our steps? You—you wanted me to remember."

He sighs and gives in with a nod. "Yeah, it was a chance to redo the day. Last night was wild and things kind of went out of control, but this way, we can do it differently. I kept hoping that maybe there's the slightest chance you really meant it, what you said about..."

About being in love with your best friend, you think, internally cringing when you can hear the words in your own voice from last night. You'd nearly screamed it out loud, and the situation was probably more than embarrassing and not pretty at all—blame it on Joshua for having this party in the first place. This was nothing like how you might've pictured confessing to a crush at all.

But as crazy and mortifying as it was, it feels almost like an inside joke, a moment that only the two of you would ever know. And when you finally manage to process what Wonwoo just said, your heart speeds up for an entirely different reason.

Hope. This is what you'd been hoping for, too.

"I meant all of it," you quickly say, diving right in before you can chicken out. "Did you? When you said that you don't hate all this holiday stuff, but actually enjoy it because it's with me? That you... feel the same way?"

"Yeah, Y/N. You have no idea how long I've been holding onto that." The tension in his body has eased and there's finally a smile on his lips, perhaps for the first time today. "And about the mistletoe right above us? I don't hate it, Y/N," Wonwoo repeats his words from last night. "Not at all."

"Ah, I see," you tease despite the hammering of your heart at what's to come. "Is that what you want to redo this day for?"

Wonwoo's smile widens. "I'd gladly redo any day if it's with you."

When the distance closes and you feel the tenderness in his touch and taste the soda on his tongue, you know that this redo of a night would be committed to memory forever.

#wonwoo fic #wonwoo x reader #wonwoo fluff #wonwoo scenarios #wonwoo imagines #svt imagines #svt scenarios #svt fluff #seventeen fluff #seventeen scenarios #my fic #if you've seen this for a diff fandom... this was the og :') #i promise i have other stuff to post!!! #but oh well at least it's fun guessing which member might be the equivalent? ahahah

[gremlin-bot]

Growth of Trial and Error

So, I lied about this being put on the back burner apparently. It feels so good to post this after working on it for like two months. I hope y'all enjoy this 5 + 1 fic that was bate read by the wonderful @half-dead-ham !!! This fic also connects my other fics in my 'Petals and Arrays of The Dead and Those Yet To Be' series.

AO3 Link: here

—------ 1

Danny and Tim have been dating for a little over a month and a half. In that time they have tried to have a date night once every week… It ends up once every two weeks with random visits for a cuddle date. Danny blames the Observants and Gotham rogues for being bitches. There's only so many times that the restaurant they have reservations at somehow gets hit in an attack before they just give up on restaurants all together.

This is one of those cuddle dates. Danny was laying with his eyes closed on Tim's couch with a star pattern blanket wrapped around him. He's waiting for Tim to get back to back with popcorn so they can watch the Knives Out movies. Why would Tim want to watch murder mysteries when he literally helps solve crime as his nightly activities Danny would never get, that being said he had no room to talk. He himself often fights ghosts for fun now. It's good stress relief from royal duties. 

Speaking of royal duties, Danny was sick of paperwork and meetings. Being Ghost King was one almost useless meeting after another with even more useless paperwork to go with each one. He swears, if the Observants ask for another meeting about making more court trials he will find a way to revive them from never being alive and end them himself. All that doesn't matter at the moment because he has a tired boyfriend to cuddle, once he stops taking so long in the kitchen.

Danny opens his eyes to see Tim with a small loving smile on his face. One that Danny can't help but return.

"Aww, it's almost like you got flowers in your lungs for me again!" Danny teases 

"Hey! You have no room to talk, Mr. Blood Blossoms!" Tim's blush only gets worse with Danny's light laughter.

"Yeah, yeah and I'll never live that down." Tim rolls his eyes at the pun. Why did he have to bring another person who likes puns into his life, wasn't Dick enough? Danny lifts one side of the blanket.

"Come on sweetheart, get in here." Now how can Tim say no to that? He sets down the popcorn and the veggie tray Bruce insisted they have. Tim dives into Danny and settles in for a good old murder mystery.

They get half way through the first movie when things go wrong. 

"God these guys are assholes, you'd think that after hearing one person getting excluded they would worry about the possibility of it happening to themselves!" Danny says, grabbing a handful of popcorn from its bowl.

"I hate that I've met people like this at galas." Tim groans. 

"I hope they crash and burn. Marta deserves the inheritance at this point." Danny ends his point by popping pieces of popcorn in his mouth.

As the scene on screen changes, so does the one in Tim's living room. Danny really can't have a nice day off.

A ripping sound is hard over the cacophony of the TV. A portal to the Infinite Realms appears next to it, effectively ruining their cuddle date night. As the Observant floats out into the living room, Danny can't help but feel like he is forgetting something. 

…Oh, oh no. 

Danny realized what he forgot to tell Tim.

He is the ghost king and Tim has no fucking clue.

Oh Ancients, Tim is going to kill him a second time. That's a future Danny problem, present Danny has to handle an Observant with an uninformed vigilante boyfriend laying on top of him. 

Tim has yet to move as he is in his civvies but Danny can feel him tensing. In an attempt at comfort and making sure Tim stays in place, Danny squeezes Tim to his chest and lets out soft rumbling from his core. A signal to the other that everything will be okay, he still doesn't relax.

The Observant was impatiently waiting for Danny's acknowledgement. It doesn't wait long, not because Danny answered but because it ran out of the little bit of patience it had in the first place. The mutual disdain the Observants and Danny hold for each other is great, but Danny will always commit more than the Observants. So yes, Danny could make this easier for himself and Tim, but no. He has principals!

"King Phantom, us Observants wish to schedule a meeting with you regarding the court-'' the eyeball in a sad imagination of jello didn't get to finish its request. It got cut off by Danny's sigh.

"If it's about the same thing as before, no. As stated in the Court Acts section 12a, you can't give out Court hearings without proper approval by an Ancient and myself. Nor can a trial proceed without a pre-approved Ancient or ghost of similar position from outside the Observant branch." Danny's blank stare fixed itself on the unwanted goo encased eyeball, daring it to rebuttal.

"Yes, of course King Phantom. I will tell the others." The Observant grits out. Its goo flesh scrunching in a poor imitation of a disgruntled face. It rips open a portal to the Infinite Realms and leaves without further pestering.

Danny lifts his arm. He can hear Tim's mind trying to piece together what happened. 

"Hey, Tim? Beloved? Are you good?" Danny is starting to think that this might have broken his boyfriend. It's been a good 30 seconds since The Observant left and Tim hasn't moved. Maybe he's rebooting? As Danny is pondering the mental state of the man he's supposed to be cuddling, said man decided to roll off of him landing in a crouch.

Tim looks Danny in the eyes and says with all his heart, "What the fuck, Danny?!" 

Oh Danny might be a little fucked.

—--------

Tim is going to kill and revive his boyfriend for a second time, if he doesn't explain right now.

"So, I may have forgotten to tell you something important." Danny placates.

"Oh! What gave it away? The probable high powered ghost that portaled into my living room and broke the TV in the middle of our date, or the fact you responded to them with higher authority!" Tim's sass is amplified by the TV blinking to life and giving a static scream. 

Danny breathes in through clenched teeth, face slightly scrunched. It was adorable, making it hard for Tim to stay upset. "I'm sorry Tim. I didn't mean to keep anything from you, I just forgot you didn't know already and I just don't talk about it by default. You know I'm not used to not being around my parents and they don't know about any of-" 

"Danny, hun, you're starting to ramble. I know how it is with your parents but please explain now.”

“Sorry, I’ll start at the beginning. So, you know how I told you how I became a teen hero after my half-death.”

“Yeah…” Tim switches from crouching to sitting on the floor, eyes squinting at Danny with suspicion. He doesn’t like where this is going.

“So, there was this one time my town was pulled into the infinite realms by the old ghost king. So I had to fight him. I won in the end but, Oh the consequences of these actions."

"Oh no."Tim said quietly, reeling at the possibilities of what the downfall of a king could be.

"Fun fact, the right to the throne is earned through trial by combat. It would have been fine if not for the Realms showing affection for me. You can't argue with the semi-sentient realm between realms," Danny sighed.

“Semi-sentient in what way??! How did it show affection for you?? What do you mean it would have been fine??" What exactly was Danny involved with? Tim thought it was just ghost wrangling. He knew he should have tried harder to contact Constantine about ghosts. Doesn't matter at the moment, nothing could have prepared him for this.

"I don't know how but the Infinite Realms are just like that. It might have to do with the fact that it's where all the dead end up, so technically all lands of the dead, but I just work there." Danny shrugged, all too used to the Infinite Realms' brand of being.

"Danny, Alnilam, my dearest boyfriend, I mean this with my entire heart and soul, what the fuck?" Tim lets his head slump into Danny's arm. He was done for the day and the next two after that. He just wants to watch some murder mysteries with Danny and deal with the Ghost King shit later. It was the first day off of both Wayne Enterprises and any major case he’s had in weeks. 

The TV's static increased in volume for a moment before setting down, as if mocking him. He side eyes the TV.

"Sweetheart, if you stop glaring at the TV and give me like 5 minutes, I can fix it." Danny lightly chuckled. 

"Fine, I want to see if I'm right about what is actually going on." Tim knows who did it, he's just waiting to be proven right.

"Hey! Don't spoil it!! Not everyone is a smartass." Danny sheds the blanket as he stands, "Are you going to join me on the couch when I'm done, or are you brooding?"

"Yet here you are calling me a smartass." Tim rolled his eyes. Switching from the floor to the couch and stealing Danny's blanket in the process. He's allowed to be a bit petty. It's what he deserves after this ordeal and the ones to come when they talk in depth, but that's for later. Right now, he gets to go back to watching murder mysteries with his boyfriend.

—------- 2

Danny woke up the next day with Tim's head on his chest and a crick in his neck. That's what he gets for falling asleep during cuddle night. Carefully, he reaches for his phone, trying his best to not wake up Tim. Ancients knows how much that boy needs sleep. 

Checking the time Danny sighs. He has a meeting with the Ancients in half an hour. Looks like he will have to wake him up… or turn intangible and let him be. Danny debates for a minute before deciding fuck it. He makes himself intangible slowly, eventually Tim is laying on the couch still peacefully asleep. 

He carefully floats out of Tim's space and onto the floor. Turning tangible turns into a problem, as Danny apparently can't watch where he pops into existence. His foot ends up in his water bottle. Losing his balance he falls and hits the floor hard, this of course wakes up Tim.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Tim groggily asks.

"Trying not to wake you up while I leave for a meeting. As you can see, I failed." Danny says from the floor, not having moved yet. "I'm just going to transform right here on the floor in shame" 

"Transform?" Tim blinked, adjusting so he could fully look at Danny.

"Yeah, so I can get to the meeting on time... Wait. Tim, did you forget that I can transform?" Danny sits up, making eye contact with Tim.

"No I didn't forget, you never told me!"

"I told you the night we started dating," Danny laughs.

"Okay maybe I forgot, but it's not my fault," Tim counters.

"Oh, and how is that?" Danny teases.

"Well someone told me that he was getting severely injured by the Blood Blossoms that were in his lungs. So, forgive me for missing some details!"  

"Okay, okay, you win. I did go to my ghost doctor after, you know.”

"Good. Don't you have a meeting to get to?"

"Oh shit! Close your eyes, my transformation is a bit bright." Danny shoots up and transforms in the process. Grabbing his things around the room he almost missed Tim's reaction. If it wasn't for Tim's gasp. 

Danny turns to face Tim, his face is flushed as his eyes take in Danny's ghost form. Danny's growing smirk just makes Tim's blush darker.

"See something you like?" Danny teases, his smirk growing wicked.

"Shut up and go to your meeting!!" Tim throws a throw pillow at Danny, only for Danny to turn intangible. He didn't even have the decency to dodge.

"I'm going now, goodbye sweetheart." Danny rips open a portal with his claws, diving through just as he hears Tim's goodbye.

—---------- 3

It took two weeks for Tim to succumb to the need for information. Danny should have expected this from one of the world's greatest detectives, but the call he received at 4:16am was still a jarring surprise. He almost fell out of bed trying to answer his phone. Tim is lucky that he wasn't asleep yet. 

After a slight struggle, Danny finally answered the call "Tim, sweetheart, what could you need at this fine 4am?"

"Are you technically a god? Because according to this glowing book I got my hands on-" Tim sounds like he's been on a research binge for an unhealthy amount of time.

"Please tell me you didn't use your vigilante status to steal a book about the Infinite Realms from the Justice League's magic team or whatever they’re called."

"I may have but anyway- wait." Tim stopped mid sentence, like he was reviewing information. Danny has no clue what it could be, but he did know that it would make the conversion complicated. "I didn't tell you I was a vigilante. How did you figure it out?"

"You don't change your voice at all when ordering coffee as Red Robin." Danny says flatly. 

"That's fair and also explains why you were okay with me canceling dates last minute. I should invest in a voice changer or something."

"I think you'll be fine, sweetheart. I have a habit of remembering voices of people I’m crushing on, and heightened hearing makes that a little easier."

"If you say so… I'm still gonna look into it." Danny can hear Tim's typing pick up. At this rate the both of them won't be going to sleep anytime soon. 

"I'm not going to ask how long you've been awake, but for your own health and mine please stop researching and get some rest. Even the dead are asleep right now." Danny pleads. He knows that they both have things to do later in the day, and Danny doesn't want to fall asleep during his classes.

Tim sighs, "Fine, but after your class tomorrow can you actually answer all my questions?"

"Yes, Hun. Now get away from the computer and go to bed." Danny lightly chuckled.

"I’m going, I'm going." Danny can hear the eye roll in Tim's voice. "Night Danny, sweet dreams." 

"Goodnight Tim." Danny smiled as the call ended. Glad that he could get his workaholic boyfriend to go to bed, he relaxes back into his own bed and lets sleep take him.

—------- 4 

Tim was on the fire escape connected to Danny's apartment. Hoping to break in and set up his notebooks and other things he collected in his research into the Ghost King and by association the Infinite Realms. Unfortunately for him Danny's last class ended early, as can be seen as Danny entering his own apartment the same time Tim crawls through the window. Tim knows he looks like a kid caught red-handed faking a nonexistent Uncle, Danny's deadpan stare didn't make it better. 

"Hey, Danny…" Tim drawls as one of his notebooks falls from his grip to the floor.

"Tim, you could have used the door like a normal person." Danny sighed as he set his bag down. Tim took this time to set up on the floor with his notes spread on the coffee table. "Notebooks? That's not usually your style?"

"Yeah, I would have done my usual spreadsheets and docs but apparently Infinite Realms information crashes any and all tech. So, it's old school for now."

"Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that. I can fix that problem for you while we talk, just give me your tablet, or would you prefer your laptop?"

"Tablet please. Would you mind explaining what you're doing to it while fixing it?" Tim was ecstatic, he loved watching Danny work on his inventions. The methodical way Danny assembled work is a wonderful contrast to how they were made; chaotic and from almost nothing.

Danny's smile was absolutely smitten when he turned back to Tim with his tools. "Of course sweetheart. What do you have to ask me?"

"Okay, so I have a lot, so this is going to take a while." Tim starts as he opens a fresh notebook, pen at the ready.

It was hours of revelations and notebook after notebook. Danny was patient and explained everything the best he could. Tim was pretty sure Danny would ask for his notes after this with how thorough he's being. He honestly wouldn't be this thorough unless it was for a case, but Danny can't remember to tell anyone anything important for the life (death) of him.

"Yeah, parts of the Realms are just kinda ocean-like randomly, so if you visit we have to watch out for that." Danny explained with little fanfare.

"Why are the Infinite Realms like this?" Tim groans emphatically.

"I don't know, man. I just accept and deal with it," Danny replies with a shrug.

"Speaking of things you deal with, you can get summoned, right?"

"Yeah, I can ignore them, technically, but it's like a ringing that keeps getting louder and more annoying till I answer it."

"Huh, interesting. So, does that mean it can be used as an excuse to get out of meetings?" Tim asks with mischief lacing his words

"I… holy shit, I think it can!!!" Tim can see the excitement spread across Danny's face at the realization.

"We are trying it for our next cuddle night, if what is in this book is correct." Tim hands Danny the book he took from Justice League Dark. It's open to a summoning array with instructions underneath it.

"Oh, this is wrong. The array itself is good but the instructions on placement and gifts are either wrong or too vague."

"Oh? I should tell JLD, then." 

"Nah, don't. It'll keep me from getting summoned, plus they can always ask you if they need to summon me. Seeing that I'm giving you the correct one."

"Fair, but you better give me all the materials for it then."

"Tim, if it's you summoning me all you need is a small offering and a drop of your blood." Tim looks at Danny in confusion. Danny shakes his head in amusement. "The closer I am to a person, the less required to summon me. At some point all you need is the array and a bit of your blood."

"Oh, that's pretty smart and seems like a perfect way to cause trouble for others" a sly smile spills onto his face, thinking about all the possibilities this could bring.

"Oh, yeah! The amount of times Sam has summoned me at galas is too many to count." Danny's grin is unnaturally wide, with too sharp canines that make Tim swoon as Danny launches into a story of gala shenanigans.

—----- 5

Danny was curled around Tim in his ghost form, acting as an ice pack for his boyfriend's sore ribs. The idiot was overtaxing himself on patrol and took one too many hits. Danny doesn't mind some ghostly cuddling, but he would like it if Tim looked after himself more.

Tim relaxes into Danny more as he types away on his computer. Danny glances at Tim's screen to see that he is looking into the effects the Infinite Realms has on the mortal realm. Which would be sweet if he wasn't using it as a distraction from being banned from current cases.

"Tim, you're supposed to be resting. You know, off the laptop?" Danny lifts his head from Tim's shoulder to actually look at him in the eyes. 

Tim sighed, not stopping his typing. "This is resting, I'm barely even hacking into the government." 

"Why are you like this?"

"The trauma,” he replied sarcastically. “But anyway, it looks like the government was doing experiments at one point but stopped." Tim hummed as the clicking of the keyboard picked up speed.

“Oh, that’s just the Ghost Investigation Ward.” Danny lets his head drop to his boyfriend’s shoulder, closing his eyes. Tim’s typing only quickened with time and the new information given to him.

“Danny, why are there files about their multiple attempted captures of you, and different files detailing experiment plans that involve vivisecting you‽” Tim was no longer relaxed against Danny’s body.

“I thought they deleted those.” Danny srutines the screen, looking for anything to tell him what has happened to the plans. There in the top right corner is what he was looking for. “Sweetheart, the plans have been defunct, like we worked out when they were getting their shit together.”

“They hunted you for sport,” Tim’s unimpressed stare bore into the side of Danny’s head.

“They got better… morally.Not at the hunting thing,” Danny sighed. “Look, before senior year Tucker, Sam, and I spent the whole summer essentially reforming them. It took a lot of effort but they are ethical now, and even helped fix the shit they wrecked. I promise you they aren't a problem anymore.” Danny pleads.

“Fine.” Tim relents for a moment. "How did you even get them to reform? From what I've read they were pretty biased." 

Danny's carefree smile turns sharp. "Blackmail and aggressively shoving evidence to prove them wrong in their faces."

Tim lets out a fond huff as he rolled his eyes, as if he hasn't done worse as Robin. Tim finally lets himself relax, body goes limp against the cold form wrapped around him. A yawn escapes as he feels the pull of sleep cling to him.

“Tired enough to sleep now?” Amusement colored Danny’s voice.

Tim closes his laptop and sets it on a part of the couch not occupied. “Yeah, carry me to bed?” 

Danny chuckled as he gently picked up the injured boy and floated them to Tim's bed.

—----- +1

When Tim walked into Danny's apartment he didn't expect to see him putting what was probably Lazarus water into small vials. It looked like he had been doing this for a while. There were several different bags full of the glowing vials with the one he was filling now being one of the last.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Tim asked the dark haired boy, already expecting what the answer might be.

"Remember how I'd said I would look into the Lazarus pits for Jason?" Danny replies as he reaches for more empty vials. Tim hums and moves the vials closer to him. “Turns out to do that I need a shit ton of samples for Frostbite, so here we are.”

Tim sets his things down and settles into helping his boyfriend. "How was dealing with the League of assassins?"

"It was fine. They didn’t notice me, surprisingly.” Danny shrugs, putting more filled vials away.

“I wouldn’t say it was surprising they don’t know about ghosts.” Tim points out.

“Fair. I had a look around, they have a lot of interesting things in their base.”

“Oh, did you take anything besides the lazarus water?” Tim wonders what caught Danny’s attention. From what he remembers it could be just about anything from swords to priceless pieces of art.

“No, but I did see what I’m pretty sure was a spleen in a jar!” Danny’s smile grew almost inhumanly big. “Tim, get this! It was fucking labeled! Labeled!” Danny’s excitement is clear in his voice. Tim couldn’t completely focus on it. He only knows of one spleen that was removed under the care of the league. 

“What was it labeled?” Tim asked, nervousness creeping into his voice. Please don’t be his spleen.

Danny’s giggling was barely contained as he answered, “Ra's al Ghul’s emotional support spleen. Outsourced from RR.”

“HE PICKLED MY SPLEEN!!” Tim shouts, startling Danny into almost dropping the vial in his hand. 

Danny looks at Tim in confusion for a solid five seconds before Tim saw a look of realization bloom on his face. “Oh Ancients, RR stands for Red Robin. What the fuck!  Wait, you’re missing your spleen! How did your spleen end up there??” Danny’s distress only rises as Tim doesn't answer him.

“So. I may have forgotten to tell you something.” Tim says as his clearly innocent smile wobbles with hidden laughter.

“You think so‽” sarcasm dripping from Danny’s voice. “Ancients Tim! Is this how you felt with me?”

“Yes. Suffer.” Tim didn’t mean for this to happen but he will take this happy coincidence for everything it has.

----------- Tag List

@kyrianclawraith , @alice-hazelwood , @phoenixdemonqueen , @may-rbi , @mimilikey , @undead-essence

#dpxdc #tim drake #danny phantom #danny fenton #ghost king danny #5+1 fic #tim drake x danny fenton #Petals and Arrays of The Dead and Those Yet To Be #dp x dc fic #Writing on the walls

[kirasgirl]

UNIVERSE

Geto Suguru x reader

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

It was almost predictable that that feeling would come at one time or another. Almost like observing for years some mystery in the universe, waiting for and creating theories about what will be the next step that will cause a conclusion, whether good or bad.

It was clear about how everything would end at an expected end, as if it had already been written line by line by destination.

But deep in her being, in the midst of her bowels, she already knew that she would have ended up in as she is.

Of course she knew.

Perhaps the decision she made while she was young caused this consequence that she lived today.

But what could she have done?

She was a teenager.

A stupid teenager in love with a person. A teenager who believed she had finally found the end of her red thread, of course, was dreaming of something like this.

But deep in her soul, she knew that this was nothing more than a silly and futile legend created thousands of years ago, a legend that she knew was non-existent but that she wanted to believe only for her childish self.

She knew very well that this wouldn't exist. Another half? Oh, of course not.

But she couldn't deny it, she was really in love, or always has been.

She's always been in love with one person.

It was almost inevitable to remember how everything happened, in its fifteen years and today there were twenty-three. Everything went so fast, almost unnoticed by your eyes. Perhaps your consciousness has finally arrived in your thoughts, like the time of light.

Oh, sorry.

Not because she was in love, but because she let this love go beyond limits that the young woman did not expect to have reached. But it was inevitable, she loved him so much that she couldn't stand the idea of having to let him go far away and put his life at risk. But it didn't help at all, just that their lives were now with their hours and seconds numbered.

She wished she could go back in time.

"Shit..."

The sting on your finger spread a little pain through your hand. Stunned by her thoughts that she barely realized how her hands were stroking some prickly roses through the huge temple garden.

It was a graceful afternoon, yours flooding with orange and pink colors, showing the nearby sunset. And when I saw it, it was a beautiful view seen from that huge garden that resided on the temple property.

She watched as she dripped a small drop of blood on the ground through the hole in her finger, almost subtle. His eyes watching around, seeing only some of the Miko walking down the corridors near the temple while doing some of his tasks.

It was almost lonely to be there, she thought subtly.

His hand wiping himself on his clothes before getting up from his crouched shape, a sigh escaping from his lips.

Oh...

She gently felt a family cologne, automatically a genuine smile appearing on her soft lips.

He was back.

She turned around, his eyes softening slightly while watching the way he approached, ignoring how he was away a few days ago, a different feeling of nostalgia in his heart.

He smiled back at her, his slender shape in front of him as he watched the girl walk to him.

"Suguru!" She hugged him subtly, his head leaning on his toned chest while feeling his arms wrapping his being, a soft caress on his head before a kiss was left there. "Did you manage to finish the job?"

They walked away, Geto missing her tightness around him, but answering the question she asked.

"Not exactly, but I was able to complete half of the work. Those monkeys anyway would have the end they deserved."

Her soft look is gone, now occupying a doubtful feature, almost as if she had been betrayed again.

"What end did you deserve? What are you saying?" She asked, her voice was totally different this time. "You said you would solve temple matters and you said you wouldn't kill anyone."

He approached her again, him hand going against the young woman's waist, pulling close to her body while the other hand gently caressed a strand of her hair.

The false smile showing on he lips while she watched stunned and with a hint of anger at the small lie.

"Honey, I didn't want you to get mad" Geto began, his voice a little lower. "You know how useless these monkeys are to us, and we must end useless things..."

He waited for a reaction from you, getting only a sigh that came out of his tasty lips.

"Don't get angry, okay?" He said, a chaste kiss being left near the girl's lips, who just closed her eyes in disbelief.

"Of course..." admitted. "But don't lie again, Sugu..."

"I'm not going." He answered immediately.

And again that same conversation that they would both have in all the years they were together.

It was tormenting to know that repentance does not bring any moment of the past back, because if it did, she would have been the happiest person in the universe. But she wasn't being grateful for the now, of course not, she somehow loved the person she was with, but she knew it wouldn't last long.

She knew the end of it.

"Oh, and what did you do while I was away? He asked, almost whispering in his ear for the proximity.

"The same as always, just walking around the garden..." she said. "Oh, and I went to the city to buy some things."

The lie on the tip of your tongue... and oops.

"Are you sure?" The tightness at her waist increased, causing her to widen her eyes in a choking.

He noticed.

"O-of course..." she immediately said, her smile faltering as he looked at her. "I didn't do anything else, just the same thing you know I always do."

It was no use lying anymore.

Geto was smart enough to understand a lie.

And he knew her well enough to understand her reactions.

"Don't lie to me, Y/n." Her voice was harsh on her.

Her body faltered, the tension previously present in his body appearing before his whole being, his hands closing in a fist while the desire to cry seemed to be near.

She was so weak that she couldn't utter the next words.

"He was here..."

Geto walked away a little, not letting go of the girl's waist, just enough to look into her eyes. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his heart beat a little faster with the mention of the name. Even more so in thinking that the girl was without her company while the presence of the aforementioned was in her absence.

"What did he say?"

It was a sense of guilt in her chest that gradually increased as the steps the young woman took against the stone tiles on the outside of the property of the huge temple.

The cold against the reddish cheeks, his hands kneading the small paper between his fingers, wondering what exactly he was doing. If it was the right thing. If she really wanted to know what was happening outside the walls of those temples she was in a few years ago.

Her heart jumped faster as she walked, the huge coat she wore, the same as Geto's, was the only source of heat she wore to protect herself from the cold, since downstairs there was only a small sweater with a thin silk cloth.

The overwhelming fear of being caught by one of the mikos that morning, afraid of what they would say to Geto if they saw her.

And she stopped.

His breathing got stuck in his throat, the feeling of tightness, as if a large and strong hand was wrapped around his neck, squeezing firmly with each passing second. It was scary.

His trembling eyes in front of him, feeling the warmth of the cursed energy he emitted by this environment. The fear is even greater.

Her legs almost gave way, without learning to walk for a moment when she saw the figure a little ahead.

Her slender back and high height, causing her to have to raise her head slightly so that she could have a better view of her face.

It's been a while.

How long has she not remembered that? How long has she not remembered that that boy's threads were as white as the snow that fell in winter? How long has it been since she saw him in that ridiculous uniform she always wore?

She didn't remember.

She had already lost track of time.

And that made his heart sink even deeper when he turned around, just sunglasses covering those blue penetrating eyes.

"It's been a while." He started, incredible as it may seem, that playful smile still on his lips. "How's Suguru? I see you've achieved a lot of things, like shit, I thought you and Suguru would be able to manage a temple like-"

"What do you want, Gojo?"

She interrupted him, knowing that if he let him, he probably wouldn't speak his mouth. And it was strange that he was silent, but it was even stranger the laugh he gave soon after.

"Gojo?" It started, offended by the way you called him by last name, so used to the way you called him by his own name. "What happened to Satoru..."

She rolled her eyes, thinking about how she may have accepted this man's invitation to a refined conversation after a few years.

"I don't have much time." She said without patience. "Answer my question, what do you want?"

It was like a cue.

Gojo sighed, combing some of his strands back and taking off his glasses thus revealing his unlimited blue eyes. Your cursed energy is even stronger.

What a strange feeling she had.

"I want you to go back to school, Y/n."

Your heart stopped, an instant choking. Discredited that he really came here at dawn to say that.

His gaze faltered, looking at the ground for a moment before looking at Gojo's eyes.

"You know I can't, not anymore." She started, knowing the consequences that her choices had. "You know that very well, Satoru, I can't go back."

Gojo took a step forward while she took another step back. Gojo's look was briefly saddened by the attitude that the young woman had.

"Yes, you can. With my influence I can postpone its execution, maybe I can even get them to annul it and then-"

"You know that director Yaga doesn't forgive what I did." She interrupted him again. "Being an accomplices of a quasi-genocide is irreversible execution."

Gojo bit his tongue, his chest tightening even more.

"You weren't guilty, you were manipulated!" Gojo said, his tone of voice is a little louder than usual. "You can come back and I'll tell my superiors everything. I will say that he manipulated you and made you follow you, over time they will understand and annul your execution, just come home, Y/n... you didn't kill anyone, you didn't do evil."

It was almost like a desperate appeal, wanting to save a life that in the eyes can no longer be saved, and that was scary.

enjoy as much as he is known for his self-centered personality, he loves his friends, he values the people he cares about. And having gone through the mourning of losing two people at once, was like a whirlwind of responsibilities, as if he had become aware that he was now the strongest sorcerer in the world, and so the responsibilities were his, even if it meant having to execute his two best friends.

But deep down he believed he could sort things out, deep down he believed that he could at least save her while there was still time.

But that was impossible.

It was painful to have wanted to see her go in a direction in which he knows she doesn't want, just for loving someone.

And that made him feel even worse.

The feeling of a broken heart, knowing that she would choose it from a thousand universes.

It would always be him.

But Gojo would like to save the only person he still cares about and hopes that he will change his mind and return home.

"And what would Suguru look like? I can't just abandon him like this after all..."

Oh, of course.

There was him as an obstacle to a better life, a life that Gojo would love to provide for the girl.

"You need to leave him, Y/n..." he realized how the soft expression of Y/n fell apart to an angry feature, his hands closing in fists. "Suguru has already lost control of himself, how long do you two have for him to end up killing one of you? You need to open your eyes and see that the Geto Suguru from before does not exist and will not exist, you are only attached to it."

It was like small needles being stuck in her arteries, injecting the most dangerous poison that would kill her painfully.

Not because of the way he had said it, so coldly. But because it was true, Geto Suguru was no longer the same.

But she wouldn't accept it easily.

"You don't understand, do you really want to be enslaved by non-witches just for their own good? Suguru will end this and we will live in a better world... that's what he wants-"

"It's what he wants, not what you want." Gojo interrupted her, a step approaching the young woman gently, hoping that something would touch the deepest of her mind and change her thinking. "Stop pretending that what Geto put in your head is something you agree with, you don't agree with any of this. Please, Y/n... come with me, let's get out of it and I promise I'll solve the issue about your execution, you can start over."

His heart palpitated even more when he felt the man's icy hands against both of them. The girl's bright eyes by the tears that threatened to fall looked at him, her pink lips shaking slightly.

Only the thought of all this made her want to collapse against anyone.

He was right, she didn't agree with everything that was happening. She never agreed.

She just can't let Geto follow a path that would cost her life without her. And that was painful to hear, to know that she was like his pet dog, and whatever he said she would gladly do, even if she didn't agree.

"I... I can't..." she started, the voice fails at first. "I can't abandon Suguru after all, and even more, they will kill him... I'm going to live with a guilt for the rest of my life."

"Guilt?" Gojo questioned it. "Guilt for what? Geto will be the culprit of his death, he is aware of it, only you who don't. And if he continues, he will also be guilty of killing you."

She took his hands away from him, moving away quickly. His hands wiping the tears that flowed, thanking you for the night for briefly hiding the tears.

"You have to leave." She warned, the paper in her hands kneading even more.

"Why?"

"Just go away, Gojo. You don't want problems, do you?" She warned me once again.

"You can't ignore everything that's happening and what I said." Gojo uttered, putting on his glasses. "If you change your mind, you know what to call me."

Like a cue, Gojo sighed in defeat, but deep down with the hope that the young girl would do what he had asked for. Wanting her to call him desperately, willing to change his mind and go back with everything.

But another part of Gojo knew it was almost as if it were impossible for this to happen.

"I'm not going after you, there's nothing I can change my mind, I want it." She declared her voice confident, but with a pinch of lies. "You never come here again."

A slight bite was left on his lips, nervousness disappearing when the man's penetrating eyes lost their luster, his mouths opening slightly to say something but being prevented, as if the wind had suddenly stolen his voice.

She just turned around, walking along the path of stone tiles that were in the garden. Gradually his figure diminished in the boy's vision, while disappearing on that dark night.

Not even a last look at Gojo was made, choosing to just leave, but deep down her chest screamed for something that she was not able to decipher, wanting that somewhere in this universe her decision had been different.

A small tear dripped from his eyes, only tracing the way through his pink cheeks as he left. The cursed energy that had previously been in the place disappearing, showing that Gojo had left.

And in the end, she knew she had just missed an opportunity to start over, just for fear that the red line that connected her from Geto would be cut.

#gojou satoru x reader #geto suguru #yandere gojo #geto suguru x reader #toji fushiguro #jjk angst #jjk toji #jjk gojo #jjk geto #jujtusu kaisen #jujutsu satoru #jujutsu sorcerer #jujustsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu itadori #jujutsu kaisen toji #jujutsu geto #yandere geto #geto smut #gojo x you

[madnessreruns]

could I request yandere headcanons for the riddler from the arkham games?

Yandere! Riddler x G/N Reader HCs

Warnings: Obsessive and possessive behavior, murder, kidnapping, and swearing

Note: I did this as soon as I saw this request I swear I’m going feral. I probably won’t ever write HCs as long as this, I just got really into this one.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Uh oh!! Oh no!! Your fucked!!!!

Okay so, I presume this is during Knight, I don’t know why, but his appearance in that game gives me the most yandere or possible yandere vibes. Idk why.

So, how would he become a yandere is a very good question, that is rather easy to answer.

When he sees you, he sees a shining light. Someone who is on the same level as him, someone whose brighter and smarter then everyone else in this hellscape of a city. Someone who would be perfect to be with him.

I mean you were just like him! Smart, problem solving, absolutely stunning! Why would he let you be oogled and stared at by other men, when he can do you a favor, and take you himself.

As I said he sees what he does as a favor. You should be grateful! The worlds smartest man has taken you in, why should you complain? It’s better then being out there.

Okay but going back to him first seeing you and stuff.

He was probably scooping out perfect victims for his new trap, he needed someone your weight and height, but he didn’t expect to find you.

You had been out on his radar after he spotted you out somewhere. He quickly found your name, your address, your criminal record (if you have one), your personal info, everything like that.

He began to watch you, to figure out the best time to snatch you up, when he began to realize who you were. Not in a literal sense he already knew who you were, but your true personality.

Your wit, your kindness, your love for everyone and everything around you. Most of all your intelligence and determination to problem solve.

At first he laughed, someone trying to be as good as he was, but he kept watching, unable to rip his eyes from you while watching play a puzzle game through your monitor. Being amazed as you solved the puzzles almost as quickly as he did.

He began to watch you more and more, through anything he could. Computer cameras, phone cameras, surveillance cameras, having his men follow your around and reporting back to him.

He said it was simply because he needed to know more about you, to make sure you’d be perfect for his trap.

But everyone knew that was a lie. He watched you for hours on end, even if you were simply sleeping, or scrolling through your phone. He’s skip meals, forget to sleep and bathe, he’s even forget to do his work. He just, stared, not knowing why, he just felt so compelled to.

When he was finally pulled to his senses as you were in a cafe, talking, chatting, even laughing, with another man.

Watching you, listening to your conversations and it’s this mystery stranger, god it made his blood boil. He didn’t like it, he hated it even. His new obsession was being chatted up by a new fella.

He had spent the last- he didn’t even know how long, must’ve been week, maybe even months, doing nothing but watching you. Writing down every little detail of you, and this- absolute bastard thinks he can just come on and ruin it!

He hates that he cares so much about this, about you. He then started to build a new trap, a new torture room. Suited specifically for that man you were talking to, and unlike the other ones, this one was impossible for I get out of. Well, maybe not for you, but for that wretch you were talking to.

He was nothing, he was worthless. He didn’t deserve to talk to you, and you bet Ed was going to make that known.

He was going to broadcast it, to everyone. Making sure the entire city knew how stupid this man was, not being able to solve simple puzzles. He was especially excited to see your reaction, when you realized the man who was talking to was a complete fool, a moron.

After that he becomes more protective, more obsessive over you. Fuck he won’t admit it, but he needs you.

This leads to his plan, he makes him home luxurious, a place you would never want to leave. He keeps you there, making sure he was the only one to be able to be with you, to talk to you, to touch you.

He orders his henchmen to stop whatever there doing, and start doing all these, what seems to be random tasks for him. Clean up his home, buy new furniture, make it seem like his home was a haven. A sanctuary from the outside world.

While they are doing that, he starts making his crimes more extravagant, an almost mystical vibe. He does anything to draw attention from you, and when he watches you watch the news broadcast, he’s paying attention to every little thing your doing.

Are you watching? Did you like his performance? Are you blushing when they show his face? Was that a smile? Did you like it?? Should he do it again? Whatever draws your attention most is what he’ll do.

He then approached you, although not in person, through letter.

He sends you a letter, a pale white envelope sealed with a green heart sticker. A hand written letter lying inside, compared to his usual handwriting, you would never guess it was from him, by the beautiful cursive he practiced so hard to do.

“Dear S/O, please don’t be alarmed, but I’ve been watching you for quite awhile now. I know that sounds bad, but I promise no bad intentions come with my observing. I wanted you to know, I know how you feel, how you think, how you know and how you love. I would come and see you, but this’ll have to do. - E.N,”

This letter rocked you to your core, someone has been watching you? Before you could even process this, a cloth is placed over your mouth.

He had sent one of his men to come take you back to his home.

When you arrived he was thrilled. Finally, you were here. After all of the preparing he had done, you had finally arrived.

He cannot wait to show you everything, his home, his intelligence, and all that he’s done for you.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

#cas.txt #ask #anonymous #Edward nygma #edward nygma x you #edward nygma x reader #arkhamverse #arkhamverse x reader #Arkham games #the riddler #the riddler x reader #edward nigma #tw yandere #Yandere edward nygma

[oscenne]

“nothing more, nothing less” (pt. 1) | genshin headcanons

A series of cottagecore! au headcanons with a few of the short male Genshin characters. There might be some OOC because I wanted to try and write something happy, and because I have yet to get a grasp on some of the characters’ personalities haha

Anyway, these are just my own speculations for each character so I apologize if anything upsets you; I’m planning to write the taller Genshin men later.

Notes: gender neutral reader, fluff, headcanons

Characters: Albedo, Gorou, Heizou, Kazuha, Scaramouche, Venti, Xiao

Part two: link

Albedo

Naturally, Albedo loves to paint

Anything from the flowers outside, to the fresh fruit on the table, or you, he’ll paint it

There’s a 100% chance there’s a special room dedicated to the many paintings he’s done of you

When Albedo’s running low on paint, he’ll take you to get more paint with him

He stopped getting paint from the town, as that was too long of a drive away, and resulted to using the wild berries in the backyard

With matching baskets, the two of you will spend almost a day looking for fruits to mash into paint

Only to be distracted by the wildflowers growing around

“______, do you think these will look nice on the dinner table?”

“My, what a beautiful color. I’m sure they will look lovely in our home.”

Speaking of flowers, Albedo likes to journal down anything that catches his eye

He likes researching about the many mushrooms he encounters when walking through the forest, or the shiny rocks by the lake, or the difference of leaves from one plant to another

He’ll take you on his little nature walks as well, since he doesn’t like seeing you cooped up in the house all day

“Do you see this plant, ______? Whenever I touch it, I feel an itchy sensation on my skin.”

Gorou

As we all know, Gorou is a dog, and dogs like to chase things

He likes chasing after the butterflies that fly near the marigold bushes

He likes chasing after the dragonflies that zip past the lake

He even likes chasing after the squirrels that sit on the fence

You get the gist of it, right?

Because as the Guardian of your little kingdom, Gorou will do anything to protect it

On days when he’s not busy protecting your home, the two of you will be playing in a meadow or finding food for dinner

“It’s important that we don’t forget even the most simple essentials, ______.”

In his free time, Gorou likes to sleep in the sun

He likes the feeling of the warm light touching his skin; kissing his cheeks and patting his head as he lays in its comfort

When you’re not busy, he’ll ask if you want to join him

“It’s warm today ______, let’s enjoy the warmth together.”

Heizou

In truth, the quiet atmosphere really bores him

Heizou lives for the excitement of cracking a case, but as far as he knows, there aren’t much mysteries to solve in a place that’s calmer than its waters

He spends his time inside most of the time, challenging you to a few puzzles or board games he found in the closet

“Think you’ll be able to outsmart me, _____?”

If the puzzles and board games get too repetitive, the two of you will play hide-and-seek

Being able to use clues to find your whereabouts or hints to where your next hiding spot is is something Heizou really enjoys doing

Every once in a while you two will switch roles, but Heizou prefers being the seeker rather than the hider, he likes to test your knowledge

“It seems you did outsmart me, who would have thought?”

“I’ll be the hider this time ______, but this doesn’t mean I’ll be going easy on you!”

Heizou likes to read a lot

He likes reading anything from murder mystery stories to the strange cases written from the daily newspaper

He also likes making up his own stories too

Right before bed, that’s when he’ll tell them to you

“But the frog told Mrs. Parsley that he never touched her pie! Alright ______, now who do you think was telling the truth?”

Kazuha

Kazuha is very nature-esque

He’ll be outside enjoying the sound of the birds or the buzzing of a bee

He’ll be sitting by a little pond with tiny tadpoles in it, while stroking a leaf in his hand

Kazuha likes autumn the best

Everything goes from a bright green to mellow yellows and reds

The warm tones remind him of how calming your presence is

On sunny days, sometimes you’ll see him petting the chickens or following baby ducklings back to their pond

When you’re not busy, you and Kazuha will be laying outside in the soft grass, playing with each other’s hair as the wind swirls through the air

“Today is a beautiful day, ______, but spending time with you has made it far more wonderful.”

On rainy days, Kazuha stays inside and writes poetry for you to read

In return, he’ll ask you to write him something too

“If you don’t know what to say, you can always ask me for help. Unless, you want your words to be a surprise for me.”

Scaramouche

Scaramouche is quite the sour boy

So he’ll never admit how soft he becomes when you’re around him

He really enjoys making flower crowns with you

The delicate-ness of the petals, the softness of your hands as you place the ring of flowers on his head, the scent of your freshly washed clothes, the warm feeling of your body getting too close to his…

All of it makes him weak on the knees

He thinks it’s an ugly feeling, but you think it’s funny

“Whatever, I never wanted to make stupid flower crowns with you anyway.”

You recently introduced Scaramouche to flower pressing

He called your idea dumb, but every once in a while he’ll be outside picking flowers so he can make pretty flower bookmarks for you

When you ask him what he’s doing outside for so long, he’ll turn away and ask you why you were stalking him

“It’s not nice to spy on people, ______.”

Venti

Venti loves apples as much as he loves wine, but he loves you even more

Of course he’s taking you apple picking

The feeling of the wind and the rustling of the tree leaves, that’s when the best apples are ready to be picked

“Ooh, there’s so many things we can make together! Cider, pie, cake, and they can all be apple flavored, hehe!”

Venti’s passion for wine and apples is so strong, sometimes he forgets you’re in his life too

“Don’t worry, ______, I still love you! Besides, nothing compares to the sweetness of your smile~”

As a musician, of course, Venti likes to write songs for you

Or he’ll be humming a random tune while sitting with you on the porch swing

It’s not often this happens, but when Venti’s in the mood he’ll go sing to the animals outside

You thought it was weird, because every time, they’d end up scared and would run away

But he told you it was just practice before he’d preform his songs in front of you

“As you know, practice makes perfect! Now stop peeking! You’ll get to hear the song later.”

Xiao

Xiao is a quiet person

He enjoys the silent atmosphere a lot

It’s the first time in his life he’s felt so at ease with himself

Though, he prefers when the sun isn’t out

Gazing up at the stars makes him feel tiny, but seeing you by his side makes him feel less intimidated

He likes the cold feeling of the wind brushing through his hair as he rests his head on your shoulder

“I wish I could stay like this with you forever, ______.”

But there’s something else that comes out at night

At first, he thought it was a fly

It was tiny and brown, and it made an annoying buzzing noise

Until he tried to swat it away

A bright green glow emerged from it, and then, as if on cue, a whole blanket of bright green covered the once dark colored floor

They were fireflies

They danced around him, welcoming him and you into the night

He’s never seen anything like them, no

But they were bright, like you

Now, every night, Xiao takes you outside to see the fireflies before going to bed

“Come with me, there’s something I want you to see.”

I kinda wish I wrote more but it’s like 6 am and I have slept yet so I hope you enjoy these!! ❤️

#genshin impact hcs #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact au #genshin impact cottagecore #genshin impact venti x Reader #genshin impact xiao x reader #genshin impact scaramouche x reader #genshin impact kazuha x reader #genshin impact albedo x reader #genshin impact gorou x reader #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact x Reader #gorou x reader #Scaramouche x reader #xiao x reader #venti x reader #albedo x reader #Kazuha x reader #genshin impact heizou x reader #heizou x reader

[behrads-world]

The Umbrella Academy x Reader

Agreeing to filming this reality TV show was one of the most ridiculous ideas you’ve ever been on board with.

“A bonding experience” Sloane had said when she brought it up. Backing it up with the notion that you were all family, despite what timeline you were from.

Viktor, bless his heart, was the first to fold. Always the sucker for keeping peace in the family. And after hours of persistent persuasion, got the tougher family members to go along with it.

You and Five both argued that nobody needs to be in your business anymore than they already are. You mostly because you were camera shy, rather than Five's reasoning.

In the end, ultimately everyone agrees, Allowing a camera crew into your shared home with a fair amount of enthusiasm.

Now, you all stand around a coffee machine, or what remains of the coffee machine. Various pieces of the item scattered along the counter top and the floor.

You could hear five grumbling behind you about finally getting a coffee machine only for it to be destroyed. You felt for the poor boy really. Coffee was more important to Five than, well Five was to Five.

Marcus, the sparrows number one, had called you all together, trying to solve the mystery as to who broke it and if you were being entirely honest, you were already over this self proclaimed “family meeting”.

“So who broke it, I’m not mad. I just want to know” True to his word, he didn’t seem angry, although he was more relaxed than a normal person would be if they discovered their coffee machine broken. If you paid money for something you’d be angry that it’s been destroyed.

Nobody answered, even Five had stopped his angry ranting to god knows who. Between the 14 of you, this was the quietest it’s ever been. Nobody wanted to step up, and you couldn’t blame them.

It’s three in the morning and a handful of people had already turned in for the night before being rudely interrupted, and even though some of the family were still awake you all stood in your pajamas.

You mentally snorted as your eyes flickered to Luther, who was wearing the owl onesie you gifted him for his birthday, a cheap present considering it was also yours and the other five siblings' birthday .It warmed your heart that he had kept it.

The ruckus also woke the camera crew, who you had so kindly let stay with y’all, prepped with cameras and lights, ready to capture the drama.

So, in order to save you all from this misery, you broke the silence. “I did, I broke it”, and you hoped the lie was convincing enough to let Marcus let go of it.

“No, No you didn’t, Jayme?” Well that didn’t work, you guess that Marcus caught onto the fact that you never drink coffee, or go nowhere near that machine. Either way, he looks to Jayme, questioning the droopy eyed girl.

“Don’t look at me, look at Alphonso”, She drew the attention away from her, giving her other brother a weak point of her index finger.

“What?I didn’t break it” He held his hands up in defense. Alphonso, unlike the others, looked more awake, probably from being accused.

Jayme, raised a suspicious eyebrow “Huh, that’s weird, how did you know that it was broken?” You facepalmed at the ridiculously obvious question.

“Because it’s right there in front of us and it’s broken” Viktor points out, confused as to why she would ask such a thing while you made a note to yourself to tease him about his bed head when this is all over.

“Very suspicious, if you ask me” Jayme says, to which Ben groans.

“This…” He gestures to everyone in the room, still including the camera crew. “Is ridiculous, can’t we just finish this in the morning?”

“No” You jump as Five exclaims from behind you. Out of everyone here you had thought Five would be the least interested.

Through your furious heartbeat, you looked at the boy in question, opening your mouth to speak to him.

“Why the hell do you care?” Allison spoke first, and your voice died in your throat. You closed your mouth, seeing no reason to continue looking like a fool.

The cube, Christopher, shook, its color changing indicates that he’s speaking. The only ones that can understand him are the sparrows so you're used to just ignoring him.

Fei agrees with what Christoper says, prompting Diego to lean toward you. “What the hell did he say?” Your only response being a shrug of your shoulders. He knows none of the umbrellas can understand the talking, floating cube but that doesn’t stop him from asking EVERY. SINGLE.TIME.

“If it matters, probably not, but Sloane was the last one to use it.” Fei says, no longer sporting her signature glasses, and the scars on her face are more apparent under the moonlight and lights from the cameras.

“Lair, I don’t even drink that crap.” You and her both, Maybe you both could advocate for a “coffee kills” fundraiser.

“Oh really? Then what were you doing by the coffee machine earlier?” Fei retaliated, crossing her arms.

“I use the wooden stirrers to push back my cuticles. Everyone knows that fei.”

“Goodie, another beauty guru, do you think you could help me? Cause my cuticles are jacked up” Klaus spoke up, his voice soft and filled with sleep.

Diego clamps a hand on Klaus’s shoulder, and you can’t tell if the action was meant to shut him up or comfort him. But it seemingly worked in doing both.

“Okay, let’s not fight please. I broke it. Let me pay for it Marcus” You try again, and you hear a chorus of “yeahs” and “let us sleep” from all around you.

Marcus wasn’t buying it. “No! Who broke it” He was so pressed about the situation while everybody else couldn’t care less.

“Marcus, Luther has been awfully quiet “ Fei accuses.

“ReAlLy”

—————————

“I broke it, I burned my hand so I punched it.” Marcus was being interviewed separately by the camera crew, sitting confidently cross legged on the couch. Proud of himself.

In the background he could faintly hear the rest of the siblings arguing, adding to his joy “I predict 10 minutes from now they'll be at each other's throats with warpaint on their faces and a pig head on a stick”

Marcus smiled. “Good, It was getting a little chummy around here.”

<3

This was based on an incorrect quote I saw so I hope you enjoyed.

#five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #ben hargreeves x reader #ben hargreeves #fei hargreeves #sloane hargreeves #sparrow academy #the umbrella academy #viktor x reader #klaus hargreeves #fanfictions #x reader #umbrella acedmy #tua season 3 #tua x you #tua x y/n #tua x reader

[actualbird]

what is your ranking of all the main event stories we have received so far? (as in sott, enduring light, skadi etc)

OHHHH THIS IS A FUN QUESTION, THANK YOU ANON!!! let me go from my highest to lowest.

for this question, im taking "main event stories" to mean the Big 4 SSR Events where the event story involves the entire team all at once (so no xmas events or sotn, or solo or duo events). and i will be judging these events primarily on their event story (so not as much as the gameplay, though thatll also be a factor. but i wont be judging the cards)

OH DANG WHY DID I EXPLAIN IT, THE TOT WIKI DOES A MUCH BETTER JOB AT DEFINING BIG 4 SSR EVENTS, HERE, THIS IS WHAT IM JUDGING

anyhoo, here is my personal ranking!

FIRST PLACE: Mysteries of the Lost Gold

my beloved, my favorite, my perfect shining star. lost gold was the first big event i played and it has yet to be dethroned as my favorite event story of all of tot. absolute homerun of a rich story with intrigue, high stakes, a good balance of tender moments and lighthearted ones, and just SO gripping in terms of all of the story threads coming together, plus the absolutely A+ nxx team interactions. my advice to every new player who comes into my inbox is "PLAY THE LOST GOLD DLC" because i love it so much. i will never shut up about how i love it so much. it has our very first raven!luke sighting. it has marius nearly getting stabbed. it has artem with gun. it has vyn doing that THING with the bow and arrow. LIKE. THIS EVENT IS PERFECT TO ME. it'll take something really really special to dethrone it.

SECOND PLACE: Enduring Light

this isnt recency bias speaking but my real honest thoughts: this story delighted me to no end. i was kept on the edge my seat for every single phase, and the sheer novelty of the story's setup and the gameplay was such a nice change of pace after the previous event formats started to get repetetive. i especially loved that this time, we had to suspect the nxx boys as well because that really added to my enjoyment of this event. it really felt like a mystery that had to be solved by us, and not just a mystery that will unravel by itself as long as we keep playing, if that makes sense? my point is i was immensely immersed in enduring light and i love it lots lots lots. luke looking stupendously hot in his outfit during the entire event was also a huge plus.

THIRD PLACE: a tie between Blizzardous Threads of Red & Mystery of Bakerlon

i really loved BTR and bakerlon!!! both of their murder cases were adequately thrilling for me, though towards the end i could feel the adrenaline wearing off, if that makes sense? like by the 4th phase, things were slotting together already in a way that like lowered the feeling of intrigue. also i know i said i wouldnt judge much based on gameplay, but these two deserve a shoutout for MINIGAMES I WANT TO KILL W MY BARE HANDS. bakerlon's crystal tasks were so repetetive to me, and BTR's TIMED ESCAPE ROOM THINGIES heightened my blood pressure several times HAHA

FOURTH PLACE: To My Beloved: Moonlit Eve (anniv 2)

this has a soft spot in my heart for including all of the old NPCs from main story, and that was very heartwarming. while theres no mystery that needs solving, just seeing the team hang out together and have fun together was such a treat for my soul

FIFTH PLACE: Secrets of the Tomb

sott is where i'd say the event story quality is inching towards the meh scale. the mystery here was interesting but was not particularly gripping to me. it might just be a me thing, but i enjoyed the side stories (the ones you get with the boys when you investigate the artefacts) more than the actual event story itself.

SIXTH PLACE: A Love Poem to Skadi

ahhhhh skadi. psychological and medical malpractice horrors skadi.....HJSVKHSJDFDSF. i will admit, the mystery in this story is HORRIFIC and it was enjoyable to unravel it, but here is where i break my rule again of not talking about gameplay but mAAAAAAN THE GAMEPLAY HINDERED MY ENJOYMENT OF THE MAIN PLOT LOTS. it was rather difficult for me to do all the exploration in that manor and that stalled my absorption of the story too. plus, i think the fact that the story is Over made the story have a bit of a muted quality to it. not in a bad way (i distinctly remember i wrote a semi-analysis post about how i enjoyed that the story was in the Past) but it definitely affected the mood of the gameplay, if that makes sense?

(that is the third time ive said "if that makes sense" in this response, THREE STRIKES AND YER OOOOOUT)

SEVENTH PLACE: Blissful Fete (anniv 1)

be honest with me.....do YOU remember the event story plot of blissful fete? cuz i sure dont. JVSKDHFSJDHSF. i only remember getting very very mad at luke during that fucking minigame where we guess if the card is higher or lower. that being said, if i cant even remember much of the story, then it didnt make an impact on me and couldve been improved.

so thats my ranking! thank u for the ask :D

#asks #anon #lost gold my beloved.....i will never stop loving u....

[dearshelby]

3:00 a.m in Birmingham | T.S.

Summary: Tommy's wife has trouble sleeping and resorts to a method he disapproves of. As usual, he tries to solve this issue in his own ways, even if it's only for tonight.

Warnings: Self medication and english isn't my first language.

A/N: I really like the way this fic turned out and I hope you like it too, although the gif being from season 2 I imagined this being set between season 4 and 5, you can imagine whatever suits you best though :)

Tommy sighed in relief as he found her car parked in front of their old house at Watery Lane. He's been looking for her for hours and although her whereabouts weren't exactly mysterious, Tommy couldn't stop his hands from trembling with the possibility of her being gone.

The house was dark when Tommy got in, even with the clear signs someone is there, this person didn't bother in turning the lights on, letting the house count with the lights from streets that shined through the windows.

Thomas walked from each to each room looking for his wife until he finally got to their old shared bedroom. She was sitting on the bed staring at the wall, arms resting on her knees while her hands played with a bottle of something he couldn't identify.

"I thought you didn't like this bedroom." Tommy drawles, holding himself from scolding her, she might not be physically injured, but he knew she wouldn't run away like this if she was alright.

"I don't, it's too small."

"Yeah, I don't like it either." Tommy agrees and sits by her side, "So we shouldn't be here."

She peeks at him by the side of her eye and brings her hands near her chest, trying to hide the label of the bottle. "I needed a place to relax."

"Oh, why didn't you try a spa?"

"Because in case you haven't noticed, it's three in the morning, we must be the only people awake in Birmingham," she humorlessly chuckles, "well, perhaps, with exception of the night shift workers."

"Right, but why here in all the places?"

"...It was our home for many years, I thought the feeling of familiarity would help me relax, help me sleep."

Tommy raises his eyebrows at his wife's answer, she had problems sleeping for some time since the business started to grow and brought some consequences, but for the last few years he could swear she's been sleeping well, she's been even able to convince him to try to rest as well.

"You should see a doctor." he spoke softly with a bit of humour, usually, she's the one suggesting that.

"Nah, all doctors are children of rich people who want to follow the family's career and don't actually care about people." she bitterly spits, it's an honest belief of her, however, there's another reason why she refuses to see a doctor.

It's because she already did, during the busy weeks Tommy is barely home, she managed to sneak a doctor into the house and the diagnosis wasn't pleasant, stress was keeping her from a well-deserved night of sleep and the recommendation was to absent herself from any stressful situation. Well, being married to Thomas Shelby is very stressful.

She thought of taking a break, perhaps going on holiday with the children, every time Tommy got home though, he seemed to need her more, business related papers, loneliness, a stress relief, she filled all the gaps Tommy turned a blind eye through the day, because he was always sure she'd effortlessly fill them for him.

He needed her, he told her that many times, mostly not verbally, but the way his tired eyes bored into hers when he got home from work, the way his hands pulled her close to him and how he seemed lost when she waited for him in some other room instead of greeting him at the door left no doubts, together with whiskey, opium and cigarettes, she kept the broken pieces of him tightly tied.

Hell, she knew the best she could do for herself was to leave him, Tommy was unstoppable, he had no limitations or limits, he'd never rest and he lived something near fine with it. She was different, she didn't mind doing paperwork or looking after the broken man she called husband, but she needed assurance things wouldn't fall apart at any moment, she needed to sleep knowing her empire wasn't built on unstable land and that was something Tommy couldn't offer.

Trying to solve this impasse, she bought sleeping pills, the strongest she could find. They worked well for the first two years, eventually she became immune to the effect, increasing the dose wasn't an option anymore either, it'd probably make her overdose instead of sleep.

Now, she's sitting near the cause of her insomnia in the old bedroom they shared, refusing to confess the true reason for her sleepless nights.

"What 's that?" Tommy suddenly asks, eyeing the bottle in her hands.

"Nothing."

"Show me." he offers his hand for her to give him the flask.

"No."

"What is it? A secret? Show me." he tries to take it from her hands and she pushes him away, "What the fuck are you hiding?"

"It's none of your business, did you come here only to bother me?" she complains.

"Worrying about you it's a bother now, ey? Give me that fucking thing." he forcefully takes the bottle from her.

She presses her lips together as Tommy reads the label, "Did the doctor give them to you?" he asks.

"No."

"Who did?"

"I bought them."

"With whose prescription?"

"Nobody's, Tommy! I just take them to sleep."

"These are fucking strong, did you take all of them?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you been taking these things?" he frowns.

"..."

"Hm?"

"Two years."

"Two fucking years? Does a doctor know about it?"

"What right do you have to scold me, Tom? Do you think I can't smell opium on you?"

"It's not the fucking same, these can be dangerous."

"Oh, and yours are not?"

"For fuck's sake," he sighs and stands up, adopting a scolding posture, "why didn't you see a doctor?"

"I don't like doctors, Tommy."

"Neither do I, but I'd see one if you asked, I know what I'm doing, it's what I always did, you got these pills out of nowhere and hid them from me."

"I never hid them from you, if you got to bed a bit earlier you'd have seen me taking them!"

"Argh, sorry for not keeping an eye on you, you know I have so much free time," he says ironically, "Why don't you go around saying how much of a bad husband I am?!"

"Well, I wouldn't be lying, would I?" she snaps, "I went to a doctor, Tommy! Do you wanna know what he told me?! To stay away from stressful things, but guess what? You stress me out, being by your side is stressful!"

Tommy gulps, assimilating the words his wife just told him, he's not by any means surprised by them, he knows it's all true, it's just that he never expected her to throw them on his face like this.

"... You're with me by choice, if you're not happy, leave." his tone of voice is calm, but there's a dangerous challenge in it. After so long together, she doubts Tommy would accept a divorce, it's certain that when she dies, the name Shelby will be in her grave.

Besides, leaving Tommy is not her true wish, except for the lack of sleep, her life is comfortable, her children go to the best school, she wears the best clothes, drives the fastest cars and drinks the best wine. Also, it's undeniable she still loves Tommy.

"I don't want to leave you, love." she mumbles, watching Tommy's tense expression change to relief, "But I need to sleep, I need to be alright so I can help you to be alright."

"I don't want you to be with me for pity." he sits back down.

"It's not for pity, I wouldn't be here if it was," she hesitates for a second before saying, "I love you."

He weakly smiles, still looking shaken by her previous harsh statement, Tommy always thought of himself as a not good enough husband, now she just crossed all the lines and defined him as a bad one.

"Tommy," she whispers, "nothing in this world would make me leave you, you won't get rid of me so easily."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing, not even my sleep craving body."

Tommy nods, humorlessly chuckling, he stands up and takes the car's keys from his pocket. "Let's go then." he drawles.

"I came with my own car."

"I'll tell the driver to bring it home tomorrow, c'mon."

As Tommy makes his way to his car, she follows after him. It takes a few minutes until they get on the road.

Tommy drives slowly, at this hour there's no one in the streets but them. The darkness of the night would have consumed the scenario if it wasn't for the car's headlights.

Despite the engine's noise, she is relaxing, the car smells of cigarettes and Tommy's cologne, it's a familiar smell and she feels safe sitting beside her husband. However, the unknown road Tommy is taking strikes an alert light in her head.

"This is not the way home." she says.

"I know, I've thought of going somewhere else first." Tommy answers, secretly with no idea of where he's driving to, he only knew it wasn't home.

"Where?"

"You'll see when you get there."

"I can't keep secrets from you but you can keep secrets from me?"

"It's not a secret, it's a surprise."

"Tsk, I don't believe you set up a surprise at three in the morning."

"Better believe, love."

As the world gets silent, she rests her head on his shoulder, allowing her eyes to close and her arms to wrap around his.

"You know, only this time I'll let you put your feet on the seat." Tommy speaks softly.

"Oh, such a gentleman," she takes her heels off, "Where are we going, Tom?" she peeks the road through her heavy eyelids.

"Right now I'm trying to find a rotary on the way home."

"Tsk, where the fuck are we going anyway?"

"Just wait and see."

"Go on, Tommy, quit the mystery."

"Be patient, love."

She sighs in frustration and makes herself even more comfortable in the car seat. The shakes caused by the bumpy road work almost like a motherly lulling.

Soon, Tommy's plan goes exactly like he expected, his wife falls into deep slumber, this time without the need of any pills.

#tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #female!reader

[jeongjaebae]

Redo

Pairing: Juyeon x reader Genre: holiday fluff fluff fluff Word count: 3.5k Warnings: mentions of alcohol

The holiday party was a little crazy and you wake up not remembering who you were making out with last night. Luckily your best friend was there and can help you solve this mystery, right?

Is it bad that the only thing you can remember from last night is making out with some guy?

Yeah, you were wasted out of your mind. The obnoxious pounding of your head and the lack of memories beyond your fourth shot at the party is only further proof of that. But oddly enough, you can clearly remember the stranger's gentle touch, the heat of his mouth, and your heart pounding so hard it might explode.

Which, when you think about it, is the other weird thing. That kind of knee-weakening, heart fluttering type of feeling has only ever been evoked by one person before—

"Y/N? Are you even listening?" Juyeon waves a hand in front of your face, thankfully interrupting your train of thought. "Are you sure you don't remember anything from last night?"

"Based on the way you keep asking me that, I'm starting to think I'm better off not remembering it," you retort, groaning at the growing headache when you attempt to recall any memories at all. "Anyway, that's exactly why I called you. You're the last person I remember from yesterday, and I need your help."

Juyeon's instant frown tells you that he's already wary about where this conversation is heading. And sure, he has every right to be after having spent years being dragged into the antics of his closest friend.

In your defense though, the party last night wasn't exactly your idea.

The party was Changmin's holiday party that he was co-hosting with his friend, Chanhee, at a local bar where one of their friends works. You definitely weren't expecting an invite from Changmin, but there he'd been, handing it to you at the end of your tutorial one day. By this point, you'd already heard the rumours about how Chanhee and Changmin's parties tend to be... just a little bit sketchy. They had a bad rep, so to say, but no one ever talked about the reason behind that. Of course that only made you all the more curious.

So really, you were just an innocent guest attending a party that your friend personally invited you to.

And it was a good time, at least to you. But judging by Juyeon's unamused expression, you're now wondering if you perhaps contributed to this bad rep, whatever it was you ended up doing.

"Yeah so. Did you see who I, um..." You have to pause to figure out how to ask your question without asking it directly. "Like, how I ended up getting home? After leaving the party?"

No response. You can feel him staring at you, likely to be judging you internally, but when you meet his eyes, he looks away.

"Right, okay." You give him a wry smile. "That's fine. I was thinking that retracing my steps from last night might help me recover my memories."

Juyeon blinks.

"Please? I'll buy you that skin you've been eyeing lately?" The least you can do is try to appeal to his gamer side.

He considers for a moment, acting as if the two of you don't already know what the outcome would be. "Make it two skins."

"Deal. Now let's go do this thing."

An hour later, you're getting a strong sense of deja vu as the two of you head to the dinner spot you were just at yesterday. Nothing has changed within the span of a day—the lights are still up, not yet lit in the fading afternoon sunlight, and the trees are still decorated with the tiny trinkets and colourful tinsel. If anything, it's just slightly quieter on the streets without the same bustle of people out like last night.

The stillness on the streets coupled with Juyeon's strange silence gives you the opportunity to finally slow down and think about why exactly you want to remember the events from last night. Why are you so adamant on finding this mystery person you were making out with? Truth to be told, you don't really know the answer to that; it was just a kiss after all, albeit a good one, but did it need to mean something? You save the thought to examine later.

"Here we are," Juyeon breaks the silence. He opens the door to the restaurant and steps aside, waiting for you to enter first. "Anything ring a bell yet?"

You snort. "Please, it's not like I can't remember anything from this early on."

He follows right behind you, and soon, the two of you are seated. You're on the opposite side of the restaurant today, though yesterday's table with the couple currently occupying it is within your field of view.

"Oh yeah?" Juyeon raises a brow at you. "Then what were we talking about?" He slides a menu your way and then opens his own, though he chooses to stare at you instead of reading it, awaiting a response.

You shoot him a dull look back. "We went over your hatred for the holidays. Sorry—not hatred, but distaste. The crowds are terrible, the lights are way too much, and you obviously don't like the red and green colour combo. Don't even get me started on the music."

When the waitress comes by to take your orders, you snap your mouth shut, hoping she didn't overhear this odd conversation. Juyeon picks something off the menu as if he'd been reading it, while you end up ordering the same thing as yesterday.

"Wow, is that really how you think of me?"

"Who knows," you shrug, feeling the smug smile on your lips. "But you see, I have a theory that it's not really about any of that at all."

"Really? Go on."

You lean a little closer and gesture for him to do the same, intentionally pausing to up the suspense. "I don't think it's about the holiday or festivities at all. What you actually dislike is the—how do I say this..." you wrack your brain for the right term. "It's the couple-ness of it that you don't like. The whole cuffing season thing, the way couples are all around you, from the moment you step out of the house to when you turn on your screen and those hallmark movies are playing. You hate how love is in the air."

He doesn't respond immediately, and so you take a sip of your water to make your whole demeanour a little more nonchalant. The subject is one you don't bring up much—you may have known him for a long time and are his closest friend, but you still don't know why he's never shown any interest in love. There has never been a crush, a dating app, or someone he vaguely found attractive, and he's never cared much about your love life either and would much rather avoid the topic entirely.

Well, not that you've had much of a love life in a long time.

The crease between Juyeon's brows deepens as he thinks, and by the time he opens his mouth, his entire face is a look of disdain. "I'll go with answer A: shitty crowds, lights, and colours."

"Bingo. I got it, didn't I?" You push it just a bit more so that maybe then he'll tell you what's really on his mind. But before he can respond, the waitress comes back with the food, and you know you've lost your opportunity.

Juyeon stays silent for a while as the two of you eat, but you can feel his analytical eyes on you every now and then. He almost looks like he wants to say something, like he's wavering and might actually answer your question instead of avoiding it like you expect him to.

He doesn't, though. In the end, he decides to change the subject. "What about you? Why do you want to find the person you were with last night?"

"Because—"

You stop to think.

Perhaps it's what you remember about it that stirs this feeling in your gut. You remember the way it felt, the softness of his lips and the warmth of his fingers as they gently held you. The absolute tenderness that existed despite the heat of the moment and despite the alcohol in your veins making everything glow as the world spun around you.

And then there were the butterflies, the ones that only come out in the presence of that one special person. You're sure not just anyone could've made you feel like that no matter how inebriated you were, so this stranger had to be someone special. There was definitely something there.

Or so you think. Of course it might've been something you misremembered because of your delusional state last night, but at least it was something you could cling onto, right? You've been telling yourself to get out of this cycle of unrequited love and hopefully move on with your life next year. This would be the perfect excuse, and a much better one than the blind dates that your aunt keeps trying to set up for you.

"My family is still on my back about that blind date," you say, rolling your eyes for extra effect. You might as well lay the foundation now so that you have a back up excuse. "Maybe if I find this person and things work out, then they'll finally stop pestering me about that."

"How are you going to find this person? Surely you're not going to go around kissing strangers until you recover your memories? Do you remember anything about them?" Juyeon's questions come one after the other, and it's the first time he's so interested in your love life. Usually by this point he'd be looking slightly uncomfortable and then changing the subject, and seeing this odd behaviour makes you wonder if it has anything to do with what happened yesterday.

"I... haven't thought that far," you admit. "I guess finding them isn't that important; I just want to know who they are."

"Does it matter who they are?"

The question surprises you again, so you peer at him, trying to analyze him the way he often does to you. Juyeon's face doesn't give anything away though; he stares back without moving away once you meet his gaze, almost as if daring you to answer the question. Just like you did earlier when asking about his aversion to the holiday stuff.

"Hey, how are we doing over here?" The waitress stops by just in time.

You send a silent thanks to the greater powers.

After finishing up the meal mostly in silence, you're now heading toward the bar where the party was held last night. It's not too long of a walk from the restaurant, which was good for yesterday when you were trying not to freeze in your party outfit—or, well, maybe it wasn't so good since Juyeon did pull you in and open up his coat to try to shield you from the wind with it.

What this short walk is also not good for, is today when he seems to use every opportunity to convince you to turn around.

"Are you sure you want to know, Y/N?" Juyeon slows down his steps beside you until he's practically dragging his feet. "It's not too late to go home. We could watch that movie on your list or put up the new ornaments you bought."

His offer is so strange, not quite unlike your offer to buy him skins for his game, that you nearly accept on the spot. But as tempting as it sounds, today needs to be spent finding the potential love of your life.

You pretend to consider for a moment. "Tempting, but no," you shake your head. "I need to solve this mystery."

He doesn't say anything to that, but you don't give him a chance to before you're speeding up and heading to the next spot.

The sun has now set, and the many coloured lights of the streets are just beginning to light up as the two of you head towards the bar where the party was last night. More people are out and about; couples holding hands as they walk side by side, singles hurrying home, groups of friends heading to the Christmas market nearby. Everyone you look at could potentially be the person you were with last night.

But who could it have been? Surely it couldn't have been the worst-case scenario, your ex—you don't even think he was at the party since you've never talked about him before, but knowing Chanhee and Changmin, they totally could've found a way to bring him there. Maybe it was the hottie, Younghoon, whose name is the only thing you can remember just because of his thousand-watt smile. Or maybe it was—

No. Your heart gives an involuntary jerk at the thought, and you have to shake your head to get rid of the idea. No, it's not possible at all.

"Y/N?" Juyeon stops a few steps ahead of you, glancing back with concern at your abrupt stop. "You good?"

"Yeah, of course." You shoot him a quick smile but avoid his gaze. Now you definitely need to get rid of that thought.

The two of you make your way to the bar, but the search is futile the whole way. People are everywhere all around you, walking along the streets and gathered by the bar, and yet, somehow no one you look at seems to fit the picture. You see the same bartender from last night and he greets you with a wave, but his hair is much longer than what you remember about the mystery person, and his lips much thicker.

But you soon realize that the lack of resemblance isn't even the issue. At the back of the bar when you do seem to spot an attractive stranger with similar features to what you remember, your heart still sinks at the thought of having kissed them. And it's the same with every person you look at, which only means one thing: the problem is that you can't possibly imagine ever being in love with them. You can't imagine being in love with anyone other than your best friend.

It feels like hours later when the two of you finally decide to call it a day. 

There's an empty bench just down the street from the bar, close enough to the Christmas market that you get a nice view of the lights when you collapse onto it. The bustle of earlier has calmed down at this late hour, though it does little to calm the nervous pulsing of your heart. You can't quite pinpoint what it is that's making your stomach twist, and it certainly doesn't help that Juyeon is so close you can see the fresh snowflakes landing on his eyelashes and in his hair.

It'd be nice if this moment could last forever—only the two of you existing as the rest of the world is muffled by the snow.

But nothing lasts forever, and you know that you have to end this and move on with your life.

"It was someone from the party, wasn't it?" you ask tentatively. Juyeon seems to be analyzing you when he looks over, but otherwise doesn't respond. "And you know who it is."

That earns you a nod.

"I thought so." You heave a sigh, turning away from him to stare at the lights in the distance. No wonder he seems to have been dropping hints all day—the cryptic questions, the subtle slip ups. He can be a really careful guy when he wants to be, but this time it's as if he wants you to know that he knows. And yet, the two of you still spent all day aimlessly retracing your steps. "Then why wouldn't you just tell me who it is?"

"Because," Juyeon mumbles, "what if it's someone you don't want it to be?"

"Then it would just have been a fun time and nothing more, I guess. Why does that m—"

"What if it's someone that you can't see that way? Someone you'll never be able to have feelings for?"

The question catches you off guard. Here you are, half expecting a name drop at this point after having spent so long searching in vain—you expect him to simply tell you that this mystery person really was your ex or maybe the bartender, or maybe even Changmin himself for whatever reason. Gross. So yes, there might be a list of people you don't want it to be, but what you don't understand is why Juyeon is making such a big deal out of it.

When you look over at him, there's a sort of apprehension written on his face that he doesn't bother hiding. And while it confuses you why he's taking this so seriously, you can also feel the growing tension in the air between you, making each ticking second veer towards a slope that you'll be unable to turn back from. You never thought this would matter so much, but it's as if everything depends on this one, singular moment. The instant when he reveals the truth.

Why would he care so much about it though? Why would it matter to him who his best friend was drunkenly making out with? Why would he be so oddly hesitant yet curious about what you thought of this person—

"What if you're disappointed by who it is?"

The memories rush back so quickly that you nearly kneel over.

Stumbling out of the bar, finding this exact bench. The world spinning in a kaleidoscopic blur of lights, the warmth of his hands guiding you. You'd sat here and teased him about his distaste for the holidays—you asked if he hated it when you brought him to the Christmas market with you every year, and if he'd much rather not help you put up the tree. You asked why he even went to the holiday party with you this year despite hating both the holidays and parties. 

Then when you looked up...

"The mistletoe." You let out a gasp when you see it right above you, still in the same position it'd been in last night. The very mistletoe that you'd pointed out to Juyeon and asked him if he hated it too.

If he hated being underneath it with you.

"You remember it now?" he asks quietly. He appears calm, stoic as usual, but it's all too easy to see that there's anxiety swimming just beneath it all.

"Yeah, it's coming back to me now. So that's why you didn't straight up tell me even though you knew all along." You nod to yourself as you put together the pieces.

"We were drunk and caught up in the moment so I didn't think you meant what you said or would even want to remember it. I was going to let you forget it, Y/N, in case you thought it was a mistake."

It all makes sense now. All of that would explain his nervous energy today, the odd questions, the sudden interest. Except there's just one more thing... "But then why did you agree to come with me and retrace our steps? You—you wanted me to remember."

He sighs and gives in with a nod. "Yeah, it was a chance to redo the day. Last night was wild and things kind of went out of control, but this way, we could do it differently. I kept hoping that maybe there's the slightest chance you really meant it, what you said about..."

About being in love with your best friend, you think, internally cringing when you can hear the words in your own voice from last night. You'd nearly screamed it out loud, and the situation was probably more than embarrassing and not pretty at all—blame it on Changmin for having this party in the first place. This was nothing like how you might've pictured confessing to a crush at all.

But as crazy and mortifying as it was, it feels almost like an inside joke, a moment that only the two of you would ever know. And when you finally manage to process what Juyeon just said, your heart speeds up for an entirely different reason.

Hope. This is what you'd been hoping for, too.

"I meant all of it," you quickly say, diving right in before you can chicken out. "Did you? When you said that you don't hate all this holiday stuff, but actually enjoy it because it's with me? That you... feel the same way?"

"Yeah, Y/N. You have no idea how long I've been holding onto that." The tension in his body has eased and there's finally a smile on his lips, perhaps for the first time today. "And about the mistletoe right above us? I don't hate it, Y/N," Juyeon repeats his words from last night. "Not at all."

"Ah, I see," you tease despite the hammering of your heart at what's to come. "Is that what you want to redo this day for?"

Juyeon's smile widens. "I'd gladly redo any day if it's with you."

When the distance closes and you feel the tenderness in his touch and taste the soda on his tongue, you know that this redo of a night would be committed to memory forever.

#juyeon fic #juyeon x reader #juyeon fluff #juyeon imagines #juyeon x you #tbz fluff #tbz fic #the boyz scenarios #the boyz fluff #tbz scenarios #tbz imagines #my fic #how the heck do u tag things again it's been tooooo long #anyway!! this is just some writing practice #did a short holiday writing challenge thing #to get me out of my 20k+ longfic slumps #this was originally written for a diff fandom so #you might see it on a diff blog / for a diff character!

[itsnotzka]

Hello! Anybody still there? Trying to slowly get back into writing, I've committed to this Duskwood one-shot that I've never expected myself to write. A silly little thing, I'd say ;)

TW: alcohol, talking about stalking (both very mild) Genre: ...fluff? Word count: 5,3k Characters: Jake x Phil You can also read it on Wattpad.

With a quiet, contented sigh and a smile on his face, Phil finally let the last customer out and closed the Aurora door behind them. Then he turned around, taking a few steps towards the center of the pub, taking it all in. The wooden floors creaked softly under his feet, and the dim lighting cast a warm glow throughout the room. The air was thick with the comforting scent of dust, cigarette smoke, and the faint aroma of old, wooden furniture. He knew it wasn’t the most pleasant smell for most, but it was enough for him. Because for Phil, it was more than just a smell. It was a reminder of all he had, and almost lost just a couple of months back.

Every time he was starting cleaning up for the night, he somehow thought about the day he had been accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and thrown into the arrest for a few weeks, with barely no explanation. The memories still lingered in his mind, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

For quite some time, nobody really cared about him. They had other things on their minds, such as their missing friends being found.

He knew he wasn't a perfect person. People tended to either love him or hate him. However, at that time, those whom he thought were his friends didn't care, while those who couldn't stand him laughed behind his back. There was somehow no in-between. 

The bartender couldn't help but smile, still thinking. He was released from custody only because someone had paid his bail. Then, mysteriously, his lawyer found evidence of his innocence. There would be nothing unusual about it – lawyers have their own methods for uncovering the truth and exploiting legal loopholes, but the sudden clarity of this particular situation was nothing short of a miracle! At least it felt like that. Despite the happy outcome, his lawyer seemed eager to sever all ties with Phil as soon as possible. In fact, he refused to even accept any money from him, leaving Phil with a sense of both, gratitude and absolute confusion.

He hadn’t told his sisters about it. At first, he suspected they might have been involved, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He knew Jessy and Angela all too well and they were always quick to point out his flaws and mistakes, even the smallest ones. Surely, they wouldn't have helped him without a big, wonderful lecture about his life. So he just told them the case was solved, period.

He stopped caring about it and moved on.

At least, that's what he was telling himself.

He shook his head in frustration, trying not to overanalyze everything once again.

He walked over to the bar, slowly making his way through the tables, turning the lights off, picking up empty beer mugs and wiping down the surfaces. Unable to shake his thoughts away, he changed his music to a different, less modern one, to keep his mind off things, but it didn't help him either. Then he was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the bell hanging above the door.

“I’m sorry, I already closed the pub,” he turned towards the sound, “Come back tomorrow, eh?”

Only then did he look at the person standing in the doorway and frowned. He didn't know them. He knew basically every face, every name in Duskwood, after all. He knew at least something about everyone... Those were the advantages of running the only pub in town! Rumors were coming to him, and tourists, if they appeared at all, came early and didn't stay long.

And yet… there was a stranger in front of him. 

The man didn’t answer. He just raised his brow slowly and glanced at Phil, then looked around the pub.

“Look… I'm tired, I've already cleared the tables... I can give you a beer to go, but that's it,” the bartender spoke again, his tone tinged with a hint of annoyance.

“I don’t drink,” the stranger said, his voice resonant and clear, his eyes meeting the bartender's.

Phil paused, the corners of his eyes narrowing slightly, as he tried to read the stranger's face, but it was particularly hard.

“So can I help you with anything else?” he said with a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't sure, but the stranger seemed to give him a small smile. Then he closed the door behind him and briskly walked down the two steps that led inside the pub.

“I just thought I could finally visit this place,” the man replied casually.

The bartender sighed deeply, trying to keep his composure. "Listen, man… I already told you, Aurora is closed for tonight," Phil said firmly, walking over to the door and opening it wide, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you stay here. Now be so kind and get out, or I'll call the police.”

"Oh? The same police that were stupid enough to arrest you?" the stranger’s words carried a mocking tone.

The pub was quite dark, with most of the lamps already turned off by Phil. But at that moment, the light of a street lamp shone in through the open pub door, casting a warm glow on the stranger's face, finally illuminating his features.

As the bartender glanced over at his unexpected guest, he noticed the fairly young man was likely around his age, if not a few years older. His all-black outfit, complete with a backpack definitely designed for carrying a laptop, gave him a serious and tidy vibe. Although his nearly black hair seemed neatly combed, it curled in absolutely every direction, as if to mock all of his efforts to keep them in check. As their eyes met once more, Phil couldn't help but notice his tired, dark eyes. Yet there was something about his gaze that radiated a sense of sobriety and awareness, almost as though he had seen more of the world than his appearance would suggest. It felt like a level of… maturity that Phil had not expected to see.

“Get out,” the bar owner repeated, but without much conviction.

The stranger laughed softly but ignored his words, and calmly, but surely, walked over to the bar. Laying his heavy backpack on one of the barstools, he sat on the other, resting his hands on the counter.

“Could I get some coffee?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at a little confused bartender.

Phil was not a person to be easily upset. True, sometimes he could say too much or react too harshly, but only with words. He was good with words and with people. But for some reason, the stranger didn't seem to care about that… and it was annoying.

“What do you want from me? Didn't you hear what I said?” Phil snapped, his frustration boiling over. He slammed the door shut, the sound reverberating through the room. Turning to the man, he stomped over, his footsteps echoing in the silence. Grabbing the stranger's arm, he spun him around on the stool with such force that he almost fell off his seat. Phil was surprised when the stranger didn’t really react with fear or surprise, but instead looked at him with an understanding gaze. It was as if he knew something that Phil didn't. The bartender's anger slowly dissipated as he studied his reaction, taking a small step back.

"Now, to answer your questions… First, I'd appreciate some coffee or something else with caffeine,“ the man repeated his wish, shifting on the barstool once more, “For your other concern… of course I've heard what you said, but I don't necessarily want to leave. The truth is, I feel like I owe you this meeting… or at least an explanation.”

Phil scoffed, “Oh, you think so?”

“Correct,” the stranger exhaled, “I should have done it sooner, but somehow, well... To be completely honest with you, Hawkins, I think you were getting on my nerves a bit too much," he added with a lopsided smile.

“So, you know who I am?” Phil's anger replaced curiosity in less than a few seconds.

The bartender quickly bit his bottom lip, refraining from asking the stranger more. He was well aware of one of his greatest flaws and even though he didn't like to admit it to himself too often, he secretly enjoyed being in the center of attention. No matter what.

“So… no coffee then? Well, shame,” the stranger rested his hands on the counter once more and pointed to a soda drink on the right side behind the bar, “So let’s put it this way. The truth is, I happen to accidentally know quite a bit about you, even though you probably don't know who I am. Before you jump to any conclusions - no, I am not your stalker; no, I am not trying to extort money from you; and no, I am definitely not involved in any scheme or conspiracy that would require your involvement.”

“You know about me… accidentally?” Phil repeated doubtfully, walking behind the bar and facing the stranger, “What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Oh, well…” he chuckled again, "I wouldn't say it’s bullshit. Not entirely, at least. You see, we both became involved in the same case a while back, and I was actually forced to learn more about you. You understand that I did not do this for my own enjoyment, although I must admit..." he hesitated, then cringed, "You are not very cautious with what you post online, that was so easy... So yes. It was, at least to some extent, accidental.”

“The same case…? Wait, wait, hold on…” Phil resisted the urge to grab his own head in surprise, “Are you… that guy? That hacker… or tech savvy guy, that disappeared after Hannah was found? No way it’s you… Police say he's dead. That he died during the mine fire.”

“I have two pieces of information for you,” the stranger leaned forward conspiratorially and spread his hands, “The first one... I’ve heard you were a good bartender. I somehow can’t picture that, you know?”

Phil looked completely confused as the man rolled his eyes slightly and nodded meaningfully at the soda bottle once more. Gritting his teeth, Phil blindly reached into the fridge, pulled out a bottle, slammed it against the counter, opened it with the agility of a truly experienced bartender, and pushed it towards the man, ending with a jazz hands gesture.

Annoyed jazz hands gesture.

The man only chuckled and nodded in approval, taking a sip of his long awaited drink.

“And the second thing?” the bartender urged.

“The second thing!” the stranger chuckled, “The second thing is… I don't think you trust the police after all the trouble they caused you, so do you think you should trust them if they say that guy is dead? You’re talking about that Ironsplinter mine fire, correct?”

“Yeah… there was no way he survived that.”

“Oh?” the man chuckled, “I think his chances were quite good, actually.”

Phil frowned, “How so?”

"Well..." the stranger spread his hands again. "I'm not an expert, but I know a thing or two about mines. Actually, I know a lot about many things, but it doesn't matter now... I won't bore you with the details because you probably don't care, but believe me, there are many safety features in mines like that one, that can help you survive fire, explosion, shockwaves... It's just a matter of knowing your surroundings well. The amount of air can be a problem during a fire like that, but it can also be remedied. So… maybe he didn't die after all. But what do I know?”

“That's… interesting,” Phil concluded, and the stranger snorted.

The bartender fell silent, analyzing every single word the stranger had said. It was already clear to Phil that he would not tell him anything directly, especially not about himself. The man didn't say ‘yes’ to anything, but he didn't have to. Phil already knew the answer to his question.

“Alright, I get it… So should I call you Jake, then? That was the name of that techie guy, if I remember correctly.”

“Was it, really?” the stranger smirked, “In that case, you can call me whatever you want, Hawkins. Jake is a name as good as any.”

“Really? Okay then, Techie,” he placed his palms on the counter, “You’ve said you owed me… why exactly? Why are you here?” Phil reiterated, still confused by the stranger’s presence.

Jake paused for a moment, his piercing gaze fixed on the bar owner. Phil was not one to be easily intimidated, but there was something about Jake that made him uneasy yet… intrigued at the same time. Was it his unwavering confidence, his carefree attitude, or maybe something else entirely?

“I understand that my visit may seem unnecessary, but I felt… compelled to come,” Jake responded, his tone measured and deliberate, “You see, there’s something about you that… let’s say, that doesn’t add up to me.”

“Oh…” the bartender nodded, feeling annoyed and somehow disappointed again, “So you want to accuse me for more things, then? Tell me I should rot in jail, like some other, wonderful people?”

“No... nothing like that,” the man chuckled nervously, his dark hair falling onto his forehead. He brushed the locks away with a casual flick of his hand, trying to hide the fact that he was clearly troubled. As he paused to collect his thoughts, his eyes darted around the room. Finally, he spoke again, his voice hesitant and uncertain, “I know someone anonymously paid your bail and I may know more about that. I may know a lot about that. And I believe it still bothers you, so I think I should share it with you. And, well… I suppose what I'm trying to say is that this meeting has been weighing heavily on my mind. I've been thinking about it quite often, trying to figure out what to say or… how to say it and I think I still don’t know… I mean… okay, here's the thing. Do you remember the second person who got involved in this case by accident?” Jake continued, “You… you invited her to Aurora. She never came here, but still, you did, and—”

“The girl? Shit… okay, now I think I get it,” the bartender sighed deeply and nodded, as he couldn’t believe it was that simple. It was always that simple, when there were feelings involved, “Don’t tell me… It hit your ego, didn't it? You liked her, right? Did you come to tell me I was not only released from the arrest thanks to you, but they actually arrested me because of you in the first place? You got jealous of that girl, and that's why I had a shitty couple of months? Was it your revenge? ”

The stranger shrugged, but his awkward smile said it all.

Guilty as charged. 

“Great... so you almost ruined my life over some chick I don't even know?! Only because I invited her here? I did nothing wrong! Couldn't you explain it between you two? You had to get me into this… And you still have the nerve to come to my bar and—”

“No, wait,” the alleged hacker silenced him with a gesture, “I mean… you almost got it right. I do feel guilty you were in that arrest for quite some time, but for a different reason…” the stranger rubbed his neck nervously, “What if… hypothetically, of course, what if I knew right away how to get you out of this? I knew you were innocent and I had proof for that? But... she was so interested in you... and you in her! And I didn't want you to be interested in her… I guess I was just… confused about you. Shit, it doesn't make sense, does it?”

Phil frowned, but slowly the meaning of the stranger's words began to dawn on him. He wasn't after the girl who helped solve the case. Jake was after… him.

He was jealous of… him?

Was that even possible?

He knew he should be angry. Furious even! It was about his life! Countless hours wasted in the arrest he didn’t deserve! Yet, somehow… The guilty look on the stranger’s face made it fade away. He'd be lying if he said he didn't wonder who that mysterious hacker was from back then, or why exactly he was involved in the case. He knew back then that the answers to these questions were just beyond his reach, but now, miraculously, he was sitting in front of him, almost vulnerable and almost exposed. His fascination overcame his anger. The stranger's eyes were full of remorse, and for a moment, he felt a twinge of sympathy.

Sympathy and something else, but he wasn’t sure what it was…

Curiosity!

It had to be just curiosity.

“My, my… So I think you are my stalker, after all…” The bartender hummed, taking two steps away from Jake, but somehow couldn't help but smile.

“No. No, no. Nuh-uh! This statement is definitely not true!” The alleged hacker protested immediately, pointing his finger at Phil as he blushed a bit, his heart pounding in his chest, "I know things about you, and I learned them without your consent, that is correct. Good luck to you with suing me. But I— it’s not my fault. And I didn’t— I wasn’t really— I just wanted to understand you better!" He paused and took a deep breath. "Didn't I help you after all?! You got out, didn’t you? And I am not a stalker! Jesus, I think I need a real drink… " he trailed off.

The bartender was taken aback by the unexpected outburst and blinked a couple of times in confusion. However, he soon burst out laughing, unable to hold it any longer, "Wow, you really lost your cool there, man… You’ve just admitted to some weird things…" he said between chuckles, "I didn’t think it was possible! In fact, you sound exactly like a stalker trying to explain himself, you know." The bartender knew his mocking tone only made the situation more awkward and uncomfortable for the stranger.

“Yeah.. Coming here was a mistake, I guess…” Jake scoffed, grabbed his backpack and was about to jump off the stool and leave the pub, but Phil, without thinking too much, grabbed his forearm. The stranger winced in surprise, but as his dark eyes met the calm eyes of the bartender, he slowly sat back down. 

“Alright, okay. You’re not my stalker, yeah?” Phil smiled, realizing he really didn’t want him to go, “But I think you still owe me more explanation. Fair?”

“F-fair,” the stranger muttered.

To Phil's surprise, Jake leaned forward slightly from his stool and across the counter, invading the bartender's personal space as if it was absolutely nothing unusual. The stranger's arm accidentally grazed Phil's shoulder as he gently pushed him away and reached for a bottle of whiskey and two glasses from behind the bar. Before Phil could even register what was going on, the stranger was already sitting back on his stool, pouring the liquor generously into the glasses.

“I… thought you said you don’t drink,” the bartented noticed.

"Yeah. And I thought you were a self-absorbed, narcissistic, brainless drama queen, and yet here we are, having a somewhat intelligent and engaging conversation with each other. How about that?”

Phil chuckled a bit baffled, as he watched the stranger swallow his drink down in one go, causing him to wince and grunt quietly. Then he slammed the glass back onto the counter with a loud tap and let out a loud sigh.

“That’s some terrible whiskey, Hawkins,” Jake admitted, pouring himself another one.

“It’s my finest one, Techie,” Phil smirked, “And the most expensive one, too.”

“Still quite terrible, for my sophisticated taste… And don't call me Techie.”

“Then don't call me by my father's stupid name.”

Jake blinked a couple of times, as if realizing something, “Right. I forgot he was an asshole, too. Bigger than you.”

“You forgo— oh, Jesus…” the bartender whined, “Don't tell me you even know about my father? I didn’t post anything about that online… How the f—? How much do you exactly know about me, Stalker?”

“Again with the stalker…“ the hacker poked Phil’s chest with his finger, “Listen, the thing about your father is quite well-known around town, isn't it? It's not THAT weird that even I know it… and I didn't have to dig too deep to—”

“Damn it, Stalker.” Phil shook his head in disbelief, “You're a walking red flag. I should have thrown you out as soon as you came here. Why am I even still talking to you?”

“Oh, come on, I've never— I am not that bad.”

“Any other sane person would have handed you over to the police a long time ago, Stalker. You do realize that, don’t you?” Phil finally sipped his whiskey.

“But you won’t do that,” the stranger smiled as he clinked his glass with Phil’s, “You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you?”

“That's very possible. So what do you think about me, then? Besides that I’m a brainless douche, that is…”

The bartender's question had lingered in the air for a few seconds before Jake spoke up. His voice was clear and confident, matching the intensity of his gaze, "I have a couple of thoughts, actually," he said, pausing for dramatic effect, taking a sip of his whiskey as well, "Ready? First and foremost, I think that you have an overinflated sense of self-importance," Jake's tone was stern but not unfriendly, "Secondly, you have a habit of getting under my skin. I can't explain it, but something about the way you carry yourself and the things you say just... irks me, but that much you already know. It's like you're actually trying to push my buttons or something!" He shook his head in frustration. "And finally, I think you may be a ginormous asshole, but you're also… intriguing in a way that I don't—don't quite understand." Jake paused once more, letting his words sink in. Then he, once again, angrily poked Phil’s chest with his finger, "And I don't like it. Not. One. Bit.”

“Oh? And you’re very weird, Stalker. You know that, right?” A little pissed off by the stranger's behavior, Phil grabbed Jake's hand and moved it away from his chest, but didn't let it go afterwards. Suddenly he felt a strange warmth spreading throughout his whole body, an electrifying feeling caused by the touch of the hacker's skin on his own. The stranger looked straight at him, his big, dark eyes almost like they were trying to read his soul. The expression on his face reminded Phil of a deer in the headlights and it definitely didn't help him with getting rid of the hacker.

As Phil slowly released his hand, the silence between them engulfed them both. Jake’s breathing became heavier, and his cheeks, once pale, now glowed with a blush.

Phil couldn't shake the inexplicable fascination he felt for this… still quite enigmatic stranger. Every word and every action seemed to be shrouded in some kind of mystery, yet Phil yearned to unravel it. And when the stranger's hand touched his, he could have sworn they both felt the same way.

The bartender rested his elbows on the counter right next to him. Close enough to feel the slight touch of fabric of Jake's hoodie on his skin. The stranger's earlier confidence seemed to have disappeared, and the bartender couldn't tell whether it was the alcohol or Jake's confessions that had caused this change.

After a brief moment of silence, the stranger spoke up, "I'm sorry," he said, leaning forward slightly.

The bartender furrowed his brows. "What exactly are you sorry for? Because I could name a few things now..."

The hacker smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, "I didn't mean to be annoying," he said, his hand wandering to the bottle of whiskey on the counter. He placed his hand on it, but didn't pick it up, “I am not a people person, you see. I just… I wanted to get you out of my head. It didn’t work as I thought…”

Seeing the stranger about to pour himself another whisky, Phil placed his hand on the bottle, his fingers touching Jake's. The hacker hesitated for a moment, his eyes locked on Phil's intense stare.

The bartender's voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke, "Take it slow. You don't seem like much of a drinker, and if you want something from me, I want you to be clear-headed enough to ask for it. You're confusing enough without the alcohol. You should stick to your soda, Stalker."

Jake's eyes shifted from Phil's to the bottle, studying it intently as if seeing it for the first time. He pondered the reality of the situation and the implications of Phil's touch on his hand. All at once, the weight of the moment and the intrigue of the situation hit him, and he realized that Phil's grip on his hand was no accident.

The bartender paused for a moment, his eyes searching for the right words. "Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re quiet, so let me see if I have this right…" he began slowly, letting go of the bottle, "you’re saying that I’m getting under your skin, but I beg to differ. I'm pretty sure you actually like me, and you're just not quite sure how to handle it. That’s your dilemma, Techie.”

"If what you're saying is even true, which definitely isn’t," Jake said dismissively, "Would that even be a problem? Like… my problem?”

Phil leaned in closer to Jake once more, a small smile forming on his lips. His fingers traced the hem of the stranger's sleeve playfully as he leaned forward more, "Well, we could always make it my problem, too," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper, “Because, believe it or not, you somehow… fascinate me, too.”

“Oh?”

"Don't get me wrong... You obviously have issues, and I have a feeling your mere presence means trouble. But, the thing is, I don't mind trouble. Life’s boring without it, right? And maybe I should keep an eye on you… to stop you from stalking me further. So… which is it? Do you like me or hate me?" 

Jake’s dark hair fell across his face, but Phil could still see the glint in his eyes, "I still can’t decide… Can I say it's both?"

Phil’s smirk grew wider, “It never happens, you know. People either love me or hate me. But you…” he shook his head, “You’re different.”

“Is that a compliment? Are you telling me I’m special? It could be good and bad, you know…” Jake chuckled as he playfully pushed him away, his hand stayed on his chest a little too long. 

Then Phil realized he was somehow already long gone... The stranger had somehow managed to wrap the bartender around his finger without him even noticing. The mischievous twinkle in Jake's dark, deep eyes was impossible to resist, drawing Phil towards him like two black holes. Phil found himself powerless to resist the pull, feeling as though he had absolutely nowhere to run.

“What?” Jake asked, noticing Phil was staring at him without saying a word, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I have an idea how to help you with your dilemma. Can I… check something?” Phil tilted his head, his heart beating faster.

“Um, what exact—” Jake wanted to ask, but he didn’t get to finish his question.

Phil was tired of guessing. He sighed, taking the stranger’s face into his hands, his fingers gently entwining with the strands of Jake's dark, tousled hair. As he leaned in, his heart raced, and he could feel the warmth of the hacker's breath on his lips. Yet, to his surprise, Jake tensed up, his eyes widening in a mixture of anticipation and uncertainty. Phil's fingers tightened slightly on Jake's hair, reassuring and firm.

But slowly, as if testing the waters, Jake gave in. Their lips met in a gentle, exploratory kiss, like two adventurers setting foot on uncharted territory. Every touch was deliberate, every movement careful and slow, as if they were discovering a new world for the very first time.

It was a soft, lingering kiss, filled with unspoken emotions and a sense of longing that had been building between them for far too long. They moved with tenderness and care, as if both were afraid of making a mistake that might shatter the fragile connection they had finally found and agreed on.

Phil couldn't help but chuckle as he tasted the whiskey on Jake’s lips, a soft, breathless sound that reverberated between their lips. He sensed Jake's hesitant smile against his own, a silent acknowledgment that he finally realized what it was all about.

“Shit… you really did that,” Jake mumbled, as they broke the kiss, but they didn’t dare to move away from each other, “And you know what’s worse? I think I liked that…”

“Liked it, eh?” his voice low and hoarse, when he was looking deep into the stranger’s eyes that no longer felt strange to him, “Interesting… ”

Jake exhaled, his reddened lips still curled into a smile, “Don’t get any ideas, Hawkins…”

The stranger playfully pulled Phil's t-shirt, the fabric stretching as he did so.

Suddenly, the watch on the stranger's hand made a high, short beep, interrupting the moment. Jake’s expression changed immediately as he looked at the device. He sighed heavily in frustration, and without any explanation, moved away from the bartender, hopped off the stool, and grabbed his backpack.

Phil was left quite confused. He quickly jumped out from behind the bar and grabbed the stranger's arm, wanting at least some sort of explanation, “Hey, whoa… What is it?”

"I have to go. I'm sorry,” the stranger said quickly.

"Wha— Why?" Phil asked, still holding on to the stranger's arm, “Is it because we–”

"No," he replied with a slight smile, "But it doesn’t matter. You wouldn't believe me anyway."

"So.. you're just leaving me like that? After we–" Phil scoffed, "Will I… will I even see you again?"

The stranger thought for a moment, frowning. Then, he smiled slowly, grabbing the bottom of Phil's shirt, tugging slightly again, "Even if I wanted to come back here, which I do not confirm at all," he said, with a hint of teasing in his voice, "I would… probably come here tomorrow, same time. Purely hypothetically, of course. We could… get to know each other better."

Phil felt a rush of excitement. He needed to see him again.

"Is that so, Stalker?" Phil said, grinning, “You mean I could get to know you better. You already know all about me, right?”

The hacker scoffed, “Oh, come on…”

“I don’t want you to go,” the bartender admitted. 

The stranger smiled in a way that made Phil’s head spin, “Too bad, Drama Queen. I’m already gone.” 

“I’ll be thinking about our next, hypothetical meeting, then.”

At that moment, it seemed like the hacker wanted to say or do something, but he only managed to muster a frustrated grunt. He shook his head, allowing his dark curls to tumble with the motion, and reluctantly, after a couple of long, long seconds, he finally let go of Phil's shirt. A sly smile then crept across his face, a spark in his eyes that made Phil's heart skip a beat. Despite his temptation to keep the stranger with him for even just a bit longer, Phil grudgingly let him leave. When the bartender looked into his eyes again, he somehow knew the hacker would keep his unspoken promise. 

A snort of amusement escaped Jake's lips, but his eyes betrayed his hesitation as he held Phil's gaze, “See you never. I demand coffee next time. And maybe some better whiskey...”

With a final glance, the stranger turned on his heels and strode out of the pub, jumping through the threshold, disappearing into the night.

#duskwood #duskwood fanfiction #duskwood fanfic #duskwood phil #duskwood jake #fanfiction #phil hawkins #jail #jake x phil #itsnotzka #iamjake

[darubyprincx]

Two Idiots, One Body | Start • Previous • Ao3 Link • Next (Coming Soon!)

Iskall woke up with a yawn and a tired grumble into the blankets still tucked up to his chin, eyes still shut as she rubbed them into functioning. Today there was important work to be done- the gathering of enchanted books, the formation of farms, and, most importantly, the annoying of Beef, assuming he was online at all. 

Opening his sleepy eyes to get them acclimated to the early morning light, Iskall shut them temporarily a moment more before suddenly sitting upright and looking around wildly. 

"This is Beef's house," she said out loud, getting out of bed as quickly as his legs would allow without collapsing under her torso. "This- what? Dude. What?"

Confused as fuck, Iskall wandered around Beef's house, absently taking note of how nice it was. The kitchen was well-planned and well-cleaned, there was a little hallway up to the stairs, and the living room was tastefully decorated and thoughtfully arranged, if not exactly to Iskall's taste. 

The main question here, obviously, was how the fuck he'd gotten here, because unless she'd gotten blackout drunk or something, Iskall definitely had not gone anywhere near Beef's house yesterday except for to sneakily replace a block or two in the floor. Which was concerning. 

Come to think of it, thought Iskall now, making the split second decision to borrow one of Beef's glasses and a little of his milk to sip as he took a seat at the dining table, she didn't remember anything of yesterday. Or at least he was pretty sure it was yesterday. Yeah, the server had started yesterday on Monday. Today was Tuesday, right? 

He pulled out his phone to check the date. It was Wednesday. 

Well, shit. 

Several people had also messaged her to let him know that Beef had been online yesterday and she had completely missed it. 

Well, shit! 

<Iskall85> stress  <Iskall85> did i get really stupidly drunk yesterday and do something that i'm going to regret once i remember what it is  <Stressmonster101> idk did u? <Iskall85> IM BEING SERIOUS  <Mumbo> Mate you weren't even online yesterday  <Mumbo> are you ok  <Iskall85> i think i might need to see a doctor for memory issues  <Docm77> what kind of doctor lol  <Iskall85> NOT YOU  <PearlescentMoon> wow 

With a sigh, Iskall stood up and walked out of the door. There was only one person he could think of who could help her solve this mystery. 

-- 

"Nope," said Xisuma, eyes unreadable behind his helmet as he scrolled back through several days' worth of server logs. "No teleportation commands have been used on either you or Beef since you joined. I have no idea how you ended up in his house." 

"Well, that's just great," sighed Iskall, one hand placed on his hip in habitual annoyance. "I can't even ask him what's going on because he's not online right now!" 

"Hm," said X, tone indicating that his mind was drifting elsewhere at the moment. "You said you'd only visited once?"

"Yes, yesterday," said Iskall. "To fix his house. The whole thing is really weird, man. I woke up in his bed." 

X glanced over at her, and Iskall realized too late that he might have said too much. "You woke up in his bed without realizing how you got there," he said, deadpan. 

Iskall had to fight to maintain eye contact. "Yes," she said. "I swear it's not what it looks like. Come on," he added, finally breaking composure and snickering into one hand, "we hate each other, dude." 

Xisuma sighed. "I'm not calling you a liar, Iskall," he said. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on here. Whatever you two have going on is," he waved one gloved hand vaguely in the air beside him, "none of my business." 

Iskall groaned in sudden realization. "Wait. Oh no. Now everybody's going to think we're together! X. I-sooma. You need to do me a favor." 

"I need to do you a favor?" asked Xisuma, raising one eyebrow. 

"Yes," said Iskall, leaning forwards desperately. "If anyone, ANYONE asks about me and Beef, please tell them that we have nothing to do with each other. We are not together. We haven't even been online at the same time. Please. Grian would never shut up about it." 

X blinked twice, assuming the exact air of a lizard who had just walked outside into the middle of a hurricane expecting its natural habitat of the desert. "Ok." 

Iskall clapped her hands and rubbed them together, standing up. "Okay. Great. Thanks a million, man. I need to get home before my cookies burn. Bye!" 

"Good luck," X called after him as she ran out of the door, sighing as it closed behind him with a slam. Sometimes he really wondered how he ended up in this situation. 

"Would've been nice to be an admin for a normal Minecraft server, you know," he grumbled to nobody in particular as he leaned back in his chair and took a second glazed look at the admin console that was still pulled up in front of him. "If those even exist." 

-- 

Iskall hummed to herself as he hammered a sign directly into Beef's nice shiny hardwood floors, the surface of it still shining with fresh black paint. She figured that if he was going to not even bother to be on at the same time as him, she may as well leave a message while he was at it. 

Noticing a typo, Iskall quickly painted over it in red paint, then stepped back to admire his work. Hallo Beef, the sign read. Where are you? We keep logging on at different times. We should coordinate something. Your loving neighbour, Iskall. 

With a stretch and a yawn, she walked out of the house, not bothering to shut the door behind him. Beef would be online to shut it tomorrow, if present trends persisted. Besides, her head was starting to go all foggy. Iskall figured it was time for a quick afternoon nap. He just hoped she didn't miss anything.

#ray's tag #mcyt #hermitcraft #keys' writing #two idiots one body

[albatris]

I'm mixing up names and pronouns so sorry about that but can I please hear more about the vampire who thought they were hungry for someone's baking when they were really thirsty for blood 🥺that excerpt was so neat

:D yay I'm glad you liked it!! thank u for the kind words...!!

that's Nat! poor guy. he recently woke up on the side of the road covered in mud in his rental car with no memory of the past ten days... oh, and he's somehow turning into a vampire now! surprise!

so ya, he has no reason initially to suspect the mystery delicious scent he keeps smelling is human blood.... he doesn't know vampires exist let alone that he is one!! he's just broke n hungry n thinkin about sweet baked goods......

he's an anxious, awkward lad with a big heart and lots of feelings about things. he loves animals! especially cats! and in the story will soon come into possession of a very odd ugly scrungly rescue cat named Grub, who is the light of his life c: he's a vegetarian and an excellent cook, and shows his love for others by cooking their favourite dishes :3 he is incredibly smart and did well back in high school, but as an adult he's rather apathetic and unmotivated, n struggles with his self-esteem quite a bit 😔

Nat works (mostly) night shifts at dodgy petrol station chain Stop 'N' Go, where he takes naps on the clock and encourages shoplifting. he becomes a manager in book two purely by accident, but doesn't stick at it very long

he has schizotypal personality disorder too (like me!), which means he struggles a lot with paranoid ideation and social situations, as well as some mild psychosis. he struggles to make and keep friends, but he really does love people and being included in a friendship group, even if he's pretty nervous. his desperation for friendship often leads to him overextending himself though - kiddo will do almost anything to feel useful and liked :c

Nat's character arc mostly focuses on him learning his place in the world and becoming steadfast in his own values, and LEARNING what those values are n not letting himself get pushed around so much. he's an earnest, kind-hearted dude who wants to do good in the world, and he's trying to balance this with the fact that he now has to feed on human life to survive

he's also trying to solve the mystery of what happened during his ten day disappearance...... aaaand he might end up on a quest to kill and eat the centre of the giant vampire hivemind known as "the Garble" at some point. nbd <3

Nat's vampirism comes with a monster mode! it kicks in when he's extremely stressed or extremely hungry, and has rather too many mouths and eyes and claws. in this state, he is still able to recognise friends, but it takes him a lot more effort and concentration, and he's unable to understand unfamiliar humans or vampires as anything other than food, threats, or resources. it's a painful transformation and Nat really doesn't like going monster mode. it's very scary for him and can be very dangerous for others around him. his partner Quinn and his friends Alex and Zeke can usually calm him down though..... his other friend Yvonne will stay as far away from monster mode Nat as possible, thank you very much

Nat's preferred prey is abusive bosses and dirtbag CEOs and rich pricks, etc etc etc, all of which his own personal rich prick, Quinn, helps him track down and access. he is also not above eating particularly awful customers hahaha. like. if someone is screaming in his face for no reason or it's some creepy dude harassing one of his younger female co-workers, yeah, he might just go for a little spontaneous snack. can you blame him

so yeah! that's a lil about my boy Nat! he's the protagonist and main viewpoint character of "a rental car takes a left down rake street and disappears", the horror trilogy I'm working on atm :D

#a rental car takes a left down rake street and disappears

[pochapal]

Bit of a weird ask, but you were throwing out the idea, so thought I'd ask:

If there is an author-like figure, what parts have they written? And what about them makes you think that?

this is an emerging idea i explore a lot more in the writeup (specifically in relation to what makes a "fantastical scene") but for now my thinking is that there's a series of layers to the way narration is constructed. like at the core layer you have battler who can only explore reality through his bodily senses, then you have the third person narration that is able to explore other people's interiority more than it does the physical world, then further than that there's the stuff that doesn't fit within these two strands of prose (stuff like chapter framings, chronology, the structure of the story itself etc - best example for this is probably chapter 9?)

as a whole the layers of narration aren't presented as being guided by an active agent (battler's narration is responsive, the third person narration is more introspective) but there are times when there's clearly something/someone maybe interfering with the story. an example here would be the scene at dinner where maria reads the letter and even though battler is right there bearing witness we are not told things through his perspective/voice (or anyone's really. something i kind of haven't mentioned yet is that there are times where the narration defaults to a really pared-down description of physical actions without much elaboration on thought/mood).

like. my going Rule is that when we start scraping up against the inner workings of the witch narrative for some reason someone interferes with the story's own presentation in order to keep up an air of obfuscation. i've spoken about this before but another example is the way that, in the chapters in between the first and second twilights there were a few instances of the narrative rather forcefully going "it wasn't worth thinking about any longer so everyone dropped the topic" vis a vis certain mysteries (what happened in the dining room, kinzo vanishing) that would, if given enough attention right now could possibly help you to unravel the truth faster than desired which in itself is telling because "faster than desired" very much implies the existence of one who desires this version of events to be meted out in a very specific way.

so like. if there is meta stuff going on in umineko i'm not sure of the rules of engagement. if we're talking homestuck epilogues style (my blueprint for understanding Everything) the closest analogy i could give is that they're functioning like how calliope did before The Reveal where she'd nudge characters' thoughts/feelings when it came to the handling of things she personally felt strongly about (the chapter with jane and the lollipop juju is a good example here) but was otherwise sitting back and letting things happen as "naturally" as it would given the temperaments and motivations of the people involved in the story. the active involvement of the author figure seems to come in, if it is, when the mystery itself is threatened.

it's weird because i don't think this narrator *wants* the mysteries on rokkenjima to go unsolved - the whole point of the story is a bunch of trojan horse mysteries designed to get you thinking about deeply buried truths that otherwise would never come to light - but it's more that they want it solved in the right way at the right time (by the right person? there's no reason to assume battler is the protagonist of this tale by accident...). i of course don't Know what we're pointing towards yet on a deeper level because this is only episode 1 but i imagine it's a more extreme metatextual version of the witch narrative (which serves at least in part as an exposure of the fascist rot underpinning the ushiromiya family alongside all the stuff about gold and killing and beatrice). maybe umineko's not really a story about a mystery and we're doing the mystery mode to "uncover" something hidden deep below the story's surface?? idk that's something i'll think about when i have more concrete information.

but to circle back around to the actual question, i think there's a kind of interloping narrative agent that may or may not be the one constructing the whole story as we see it but who does step in and interfere with with the flow of the narrative when it threatens to divert from whatever it is they hope to use the story for, which seems to somehow be related to the witch narrative and getting at truths which can only be exposed the deeper into the ritual we go. small writeup spoiler but i think this entity shows their hand quite a bit in kanon's death scene and i think we'll be seeing more of them the closer we get to beatrice's "revival" and the end of the epitaph. perhaps we'll see narration that starts contradicting the way these characters have been built up until now in order to keep everyone playing these roles until the last possible moment? something like that, maybe!

#coolstuffiseverywhere