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#health food is gonna kill me one day i swear to God
arctic-hands · 1 month
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For real tho health freaks who scream about how sugar and salt will kill us all and try to push for restrictions on things like candy and chips for SNAP recipients or politicians who try from time to time to replace food stamps all together and give out Government Approved Staples like bread and peanut butter and Government Cheese are gonna kill a whole lotta sick and disabled people like
Diabetics
POTS sufferers
Hypotensives
People with peanut allergies
People with celiac disease or wheat allergies
The lactose intolerant
People who can't eat solid food
People who are undernourished for any reason and need all the calories they can pack on
So-called "picky eaters" who can't tolerate certain tastes and textures without getting violently ill
A myriad of other human conditions that cannot be neatly tallied into categories because the human body and human experience is vast and infinitely variable
But I don't think ableds really care about us and our health like they like to claim so they can harass us about it, do you?
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yourimagines · 7 months
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Liar part three
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* English is not my first language I apologise
* Gif is not mine
* Triggers: lying, swearing
- Summary: part three, you are in bad health as Nate tries to cover up his actions
Y/N POV
I woke up from a bleeping sound. I carefully looked around, the room was small, no one was in it except for me. My arms were full of medical cords. Multiple medical equipment where standing on the left side of the bed. I raised my hand a little bit and pushed the red button, alarming the nurses. My head felt heavy and I rested on the pillow. The door opened en multiple doctors and nurses walked in. “Miss Y/L/N, good to see you awake, how are you doing?” The nurses walked around my bed, checken the medical stuff, the doctor was standing there with a tiny smile. “My head feels a bit heavy.” He nods. “That’s okay, but do you feel anywhere else pain or anything what isn’t feeling good?” “No” “Okay that’s good to hear, I’ll make sure you get some food, then we bring in some people who are waiting for you.” The nurse grabbed carefully my hand. “I’ll make sure you get some food.” She smiles at me. “Anything else miss Y/L/N?” The doctor stood by the door waiting to go. “Yes, my son.” He smiles. “He’s okay, but you need to eat first miss Y/L/N, I’ll check on you in a few hours.” And he open the door and walked out, closing it immediately behind him. I looked at one of the nurses. “Honey don’t worry, we get you some food and after that we bring him to you, those people out there can wait a bit longer.” They walked into a different door and both disappeared.
“So, how do you feel honey?” She took the empty tray from me. “Better.” “Good, we gave you a little bit of morphine, you lost a lot of blood.” She pointed at the medical equipment. “So are you ready to meet your son?” “Yes.” “I’ll get him then.” She walked away with the tray, the other nurse stayed behind. “If you need to use the restroom or if you need anything else from us, you can always push the red button.” She says. “Thank you.” She smiles and walked into the back room. Then the other one walked in holding a tiny little baby, wrapped in a blanket. “Here he is.” She carefully placed him on my chest. His eyes looking right at me. “Look at him.” I smiled at him and carefully stroked his cheek. “We wanted to hear it from you, what’s his name?” “Nate Jr.” she smiles. “Welcome NJ.” She says. “I’ll leave you alone for a minute, I’ll be right back.” She pats on my knee. “Okay.” And she disappeared into the back room
Nate POV
We were waiting in the hallway when a red light above her room appeared. A doctor and two nurses speed walked into the room. “Uncle Nate, is it bad news?” “ I don’t know buddy.” Her brother stood up. “I’m gonna get some food for us, I’ll be right back.” I nodded and he walked away. “Daddy!” Junior ran away, Nick and Kayla walked in. “Hey buddy.” He gave him a hug, his other son jumped up to Kayla. “Hey.” “Don’t you fucking dare.” Nick said. “Okay easy….” “No, where the fuck where you, leaving her alone for almost two freaking days.” “I was at the gym…” “don’t lie Nathan.” Kayla said. Nick sat down next to me. “Listen your my brother, I’m not going to kill you, but just be honest with me. Why was she alone with our kids while being pregnant.” He grabbed carefully my neck holding me close. “I.. I fucked it Nick.” He closes his eyes. “God dammit Nathan.” He lets go of my neck. “I didn’t mean to.” Nick stood up. “Nah don’t play the victim Nate, your girl was so scared, not in good health right now and you where screwing around? Don’t fucking play with me Nate.” His hands went through his hair. “Why?” I looked at him. “Why Nate? Because you were horny, needed a fuck.” I threw my hands up. “ I don’t know man, just happend.” He laughs. Kayla grands his arm. “Just happened, those things don’t just happens if you love someone.” “Nick please sit down.” Kayla said, while pushing him down. “Your fucked it brother.” “I know.”
Y/n POV
“Are you ready for some visitors?” “Yes.” “If you don’t want them anymore in the room, just tell me.” She smiled gently at me. “I will, thank you.” She walked to the door and opened it, she walked out but leaving the door a bit open. I heard her voice but couldn’t tell what’s she saying. “Okay, careful,she stills has a headache.” The door opened again they walked in. My brother, Nick, Kayla, the kids and Nate. “Hey, it’s good to see you awake.” My brother said while walking closer. Then he stopped walking, looking at my arms. “A boy?” He asked while smiling hugely. “Yes.” He walked up and kissed my forehead. “I’m glad your okay.” I grabbed his hand. “I know.” Nick and Kayla walked also up. “I’m sorry guys.” Kayla shushed me. “No, your way more important than a trip to New York.” Nick looked at the baby, “can’t wait to train this guy.” “Hey, let me heal from this first.” We laughed. Nate on the other hand stayed real quiet. “Nate?” I carefully said, he tried to smile but failed. “You wanna hold him?” I said quietly. He nods, moving up to the front. I placed him in his arms. He looks down at him. “What’s his name?” “Nate JR.” his head shoots up, looking directly at me. “Really?” “Yes really.” He looks down again. “Hello NJ.” He says to him. I smiled at this site. Completely forgetting about everything had happened before. Nick smiles at me and leaned close to me. “If you ever need us, just call.” He whispered. “Thank you Nick.” He nods and stood up again. His children are trying to see the baby. “Uncle Nate, please show the baby.” Junior said while tucking on his hoodie. Nate sits down and the kids carefully looked at him. “He’s so tiny.” “He is, you guys need to protect him till he’s old enough.” Nate talked about responsibility and family. Nick looked a bit angry, trying to hold himself together, Kayla whispered something in his ear. ‘Don’t trust this yet, Nate is back after 2 day’s of disappearing.’ I pressed the button, the nurse walked in. “Yes darling.” I pointed at my head. “I need some rest.” “Okay, I’m sorry but she wants to be alone.” She walked to Nate and took NJ carefully. “I’ll get this little one, he’s going to sleep as well.” She walked away as a other nurse helped me to get comfy. “Your good now?” “Yes.” My brother gave me a kiss on my head. “Call me when your awake.” “I will.” He walked out of the room. Nick and Kayla said goodbye as Nate stayed in the room. “Nate, I’m to tired and drugged up to talk to you, so please go home.” “No, I wanna stay.” “But I want to be alone, just go and we talk later.” “I’m not leaving you alone.” “Oh please stop this crap Nate, you left me alone for two days.” My head pounding heavily. I placed one hand on my head, trying to make it stop. “Are you angry that I went training, I have a fight coming up. I’m doing this for you and our son.” I closed my eyes. “Stop lying Nate, just stop.” We both didn’t say anything. I heard him standing up and leaving the room, leaving me alone.
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couchpotatoaniki · 3 years
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One Year ❣︎ Seven: Never Ask Friends for Help
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Chapter Summary: As San expected, he caught a cold after your little prance through the storm in Hallim Park the previous day. Luckily, you're fine, which gives you the wonderful opportunity to look after him and the even more wonderful opportunity to let your chaotic nature shine.
Pairing: Mafia!San x Fem!Reader Genre: Mafia AU, fluff, angst, eventual smut, lotta crack and stupid shit ngl Chapter warnings: swearing, (this chapter is pure fluff and crack) Word count: 3.2k+ A 365 Days parody
Previous: Chapter Six For the rest of the series, click here
Speech in bold means they’re talking in Korean
Speech in italics is whatever the reader wants their native langue to be that’s not Korean or English
Speech without either means they’re talking in English
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Silence filled your room when you woke up the next morning. It was strange, since San had said he would be waking you up, and there you were, still lying in bed by the time noon rolled around.
It wasn’t as if you were waiting for him to come and get you, but you just wanted to take advantage of the time in such a warm blanket. Yeosang often joked about how you became a cold-blooded reptile whenever you felt sleepy, body temperature dropping and your tongue sharp like that of a snake.
Basically, it was his long-winded way of calling you a cranky, heat-stealing bitch.
Not that you minded at all, since Yeosang was a cranky bitch himself when sleepy.
But then half an hour passed, and there was still no sign of San. Throwing the blanket off your form, you slipped on a pair of slippers and got ready for the day, finding him becoming the very next thing on your agenda.
And the state you found him in was certainly laughable--to you anyway.
“Did you seriously get sick after a little storm?” you chuckled, eyes taking in San wrapped in the covers as if he was a baby, sniffling every few seconds.
“Oh, shut it,” he glared at you, speaking with a nasally voice.
You took a step into his room, one looking fairly similar to yours, with little pictures or much personalisation in general. Must not have stayed here often then, or had many memories he wanted to keep.
That thought... it made you feel a little sad.
Once you reached the edge of his bed, you sat down beside him, noticing just how sickly-looking he was. Skin paler, hair sticking to his forehead from the sweat, flush cheeks and nose, uneven breathing, soft whimpering.
Your smile faded slightly. “How long have you been like this?”
“Since last night,” he coughed, brushing away your hand as you reached out to check his temperature. “Don’t touch me, I don’t want you to catch whatever this is.”
Clicked your tongue at his response and did so anyway. “Holy shit, you’re burning up. More than you should be. Has anyone seen to you yet?” Instantly, you brushed the hair from his eyes, simultaneously wiping away the sweat. Was pretty gross, but you didn’t mind at all.
San relaxed under your gentle touch, finding it cool and soothing against his muddled senses. “N-No. I texted Hongjoong to tell everyone to leave me alone. Clearly didn’t do a good enough job if you’re here.”
Lightly hitting his chest over the blanket, you scoffed. “You’re happy I’m here, don’t lie.”
Grinning, he sighed. “Can’t hide anything from you, now can I, Hun?”
“Nope,” you huffed as you got up. “Now, I’m going to prepare something for you to eat since you probably haven’t had anything since yesterday.” On cue, his stomach grumbled painfully loudly, making the man visibly cringe as he was about to decline your offer so you would stay with him for a little bit longer. “Looks like Mister Tummy’s already answered for you.”
“Mister Tummy doesn’t know shit.”
“Mister Tummy knows more shit than you do. In fact, it processes all of your shit for you.”
“Gross.”
“I know. Mister Tummy’s gross. But full of wisdom.”
“You know what, just go. Leave me be for a bit.”
Evil chuckling reached his ears. “Now that you’ve said it, I’ll just be here to annoy you as much as I can. But before we do that, keep yourself bundled up and make sure you’re sweating buckets. It’s the most effective way to break a nasty fever like that.” You began wrapping him up in the thick blanket like he was a burrito.
With that, you left for the kitchen, calling Seonghwa’s number. As the ringing continued, you looked around, noticing how there were few guards and servants around the place. Not even Wooyoung, Jongho, or Hongjoong could be seen in your trek to make food.
“What do you want, troll?”
“You’ve got to stop calling me that. Whatever happened to ‘hello’? Too mainstream for you?”
“...Hello, troll. What do you want?”
Narrowing your eyes ahead of you, smirk pressing against your lips, you tried to look around for the chef. Not there either. “Much better. Now, can you give me a recipe for that soup with ‘magical healing properties’ you used to give me?”
“Bone broth?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m on adventure to nurse a sociopathic cuddle-demon back to health, now are you going to give me the recipe or am I going to get Yunho to drag it out of you? Because I know very well that he will.”
Seonghwa’s sigh was loud enough to be audible through the phone.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. Just text me the recipe, thank you, love you, byeeeeee.” Immediately ended the call, looking in all the cupboards, the pantry, the fridge, and the freezer. This place was stocked to the brim.
Shortly after, your phone began buzzing, Seonghwa requesting to video call you. Swiping the green button, you were met with a (slightly laggy) picture of Seonghwa’s chin, hearing him yell off screen. “--UNHO. MINGI. I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU BETTER PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE I SHOVE IT UP BOTH YOUR ASSES.”
You could make out the response, “Hehe, kinky.” Most likely Mingi from the very nature of the comment.
“What do you want, troll?” you echoed his words back to him, catching his attention--the other boys most likely long gone into the depth of the house.
“Well, well, well, how the tables have turned,” he smirked, moving the camera so you could see him better.
“It’s ‘how the turntables’.”
He looked at you with an unimpressed expression, not pleased with your Office reference, and carried on to ignore it. “So there is no way in hell I’m sending you the recipe through text, since people can easily hack that--”
“And by people, you mean--”
“Yeosang, yes, who else? Little rat bastard keeps trying to steal my recipes.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him you said that.”
“As if he hasn’t heard it already about a million times.”
You chuckled in response, knowing how true it was. “Fair enough. Now spill your secrets and bless me with the ability to cook.”
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One word to describe the last hour of your life would be... Well, you couldn’t really think of a word. It was purely of Seonghwa screaming over the phone and you screaming back. And panicking. Both of you definitely panicked.
But all in all, the bone broth was made and tasted fairly decent--a worry you had after fucking up so many times in making a simple recipe.
With a pale and dreary look upon his face, Seonghwa looked at you through the phone, narrowing his eyes on you pouring some of the hot mixture in to a bowl. “You’re actually gonna feed him that? Sure you’re trying to nurse him, or was this a master plan to kill him after that ordeal? Because if it’s the latter, then there were much easier ways of doing so.”
“Shut up,” you grumbled, whispering prayers in your head that it would actually help San’s fever. “And goodbye.”
“Woah, woah, woah. Is that it? You’re gonna use me and then lea--”
You hand pulled away from the phone screen, after having pressed the red button. Chuckled to yourself with your comedic timing, completely forgetting the earful you’d get of the elder the next time you call him.
Gathering a tray, you placed the bowl of bone broth on top of it, as well as a packet of painkillers, a glass of water, and some turmeric tea; why San has it, you have no idea, since he seems to be a hot coffee-kind of person.
Would’ve added a flower, because you felt like being extra, but that would seem more like a romantic thing than a... well, whatever the hell you two were right now.
This situation wasn’t exactly common enough for it to be given a name.
Wafting away the thought, you grabbed the tray and walked quickly to the mobster’s bedroom. Didn’t need to worry about any spillage since you’ve had years of practice being quick and precise with movement.
Holding one hand beneath the tray (feeling a little heavy, but again, you’ve had practice), you used the other to open the door, finding San still swaddled in his blanket, sweating like a pig.
“Y/N...” he whimpered, an eye opening at the sound of you entering. Seeing him in such a vulnerable state was different to how he usually was--and you weren’t sure if you liked it.
“I’m right here, San,” you replied in a soft tone, brushing back his hair once more as soon as you placed the tray on the bedside-table beside you. “Brought you some food too. Can you sit up for me?”
Letting out soft whines, he tried to lift his body up, but was too weak and too caged in to get his back even a centimetre off the mattress. You saw the issue, and pulled the covers apart slightly so he could move a little more, both hands pulling gently at his shoulders so he could sit up properly.
Never had you seen someone this unwell from a simple fever. Sure, you’ve felt like shit before, but San’s condition was a little worrying. “Is there some private doctor I can call?”
“What,” he huffed, a smile etching onto his face as he looked into your eyes, “makes you think I have a private doctor?”
“Oh, I dunno, you’re a rich asshole?”
Chuckling, he let his head flop to the side, neck suddenly too weak to hold it up properly. “You’re beautiful, you know that? Annoying, but funny, but sarcastic, but beautiful.”
“Okay, do you wanna continue with that word vomit or are you gonna eat?” You cocked your brow, head tilting to match his posture. “Also, you’re not gonna flatter me by calling me beautiful. That shit doesn’t work on me anymore.”
It had slightly upset San knowing that you had said ‘anymore’--upset him knowing that there were others complimenting what his. But he couldn’t blame them. You really were beautiful in his eyes, even if he hadn’t thought so when he initially laid eyes on you.
“Don’t wanna eat.”
Sighing, you fixed yourself and picked up the bowl, mixing it as you blew to cool it down a little. “You’re not well, you gotta.”
He looked at you with big wide eyes and a small pout--and you couldn’t help but think it was a little cute. “Don’t wanna... unless you feed me?”
Okay, maybe it was a little less cute.
You exhaled, still stirring. “If I do, then you’ll have it all?” He put his hand over his heart, nodding with a sincere look on his face. “Fine then.” You lifted a spoon full of the bone broth to his lips, which he look into his mouth promptly--eyes glued to yours as he did so.
San hummed earnestly. “It’s...actually pretty good.”
Eye twitching, you lightly pushed him. “Why? Did you expect it to be shit?”
“I mean, I heard faint screaming and what I assume was swearing, which could have only come from you because I let everyone have a day off for today. So, yes, forgive my assumption that it would murder me,” he chuckled, opening his mouth once more, in which you carefully put more broth in.
“Be happy that I’m doing this much for you.”
“Because you feel guilty for getting me ill?” 
“No, it was your fault for not taking a hot shower when we came back, like I told you to--and your immune system for being so shit.”
“Okay, first of all, I can’t help it if my immune system wants to act out. I usually don’t get this ill.” You sent him a ludicrous look, continuing to feed him. “What? I really don’t!”
“Tell that to the rain.”
“I-- nevermind. But the second thing is that I offered to take a shower, but you said no!”
“That’s because you wanted to shower with me. No way in hell I was gonna let that happen!”
“You have the shower room for it!”
″Yeah, and I've already passed on my grievances to you yesterday about that hell-room!”
“Well, at least with me with you, you don’t have to worry about--what did you call it? Oh yeah--’Casper the fuckin’ Perverted Ghost’.”
“I’d take a ghost over you any day.”
“You won’t be saying that in a year.”
“Bold of you to assume that I won’t be choosing Casper over you. After all, I’ll be spending time with him as well.”
San scoffed, slightly amused but annoyed at the same time. “Are you actually trying to get me jealous of something that doesn’t exist?”
“Who said Casper doesn’t exist?”
“‘Cause ghosts don’t exist.”
“Tell that to Casper. You’ll find him in my shower room.”
Amidst the conversation, neither of you had noticed how the bowl and cup was now empty, their contents now residing in San’s stomach. But when you did, you got up--ready to walk to the kitchen and put everything away--until his very warm hands wrapped around your elbow gently.
“Please don’t go. You can put all that stuff away later. Just... stay with me.”
Sighing, you decided to listen to him for once an put the tray down before tightening the covers around him again--making him whine. “Noooooo, I wanna hold you.”
“What happened to not wanting me to get sick?”
“I’m ill, stop taking my muddled brain so seriously.”
Your brow cocked up, amused while you looked over his flushed face. “So you’d be willing get me sick too?”
Another pout formed on his face. “Of course not,” he mumbled. “You know what, you’re right. You can go.”
He avoided looking at you, instead fixing his saddened gaze at the window. Your natural scepticism told you that he was just faking it, only putting on an act to get your attention and affection. Yet, for the first time in a while, doubt began to seep in.
Maybe... maybe you could give in. Just this once.
Sighing, you slipped off your slippers and lay down beside him, an arm and leg wrapping around his body to bring him closer to you. A stronger tint of red covered his face as he looked at you, flabbergasted, as he tried to wriggle out of your touch. “What are you doing, you’ll get sick--”
“My immune system is much stronger than yours, I’ll live. Besides, you look cosy,” you muttered, nestling your face into the soft blanket. Even his blanket smelled like a garden in the rain, despite the amount of sweat that’s probably seeped into it.
Truly, he did, and you couldn’t deny that you wanted to hug the human burrito.
San had, instead, found you cute, cheek squished against the fabric surrounding him. Let his mind wonder to the image of you pressed against him--without the covers coming between you two.
Again.
Would you look this peaceful, sleeping on his chest, on a regular day--he thought.
“Are you just going to stare at me or are you gonna get some rest?” San could feel your voice vibrating through the covers despite the thickness of it.
“Hard not to stare at you, ya know?” he relaxed himself, despite feeling like he was baking beneath the blanket, and let his head rest on the pillow, cheek pressed against your forehead.
“Goddamn, you’re hot. Did you take any medicine while I was cooking?”
“Oh, Hun, there’s no cure for sexiness,” he coughed, a smirk pulling at his lips from the joke he made.
Another sigh was pulled from your throat as you got up to look for any painkillers he could take. Sane began to whine once more, rolling over since he could barely had enough energy to move with his arms when he was this tired--a full belly of warm broth and tea not helping what so ever.
“No--wait. Come back...”
“You need painkillers.”
With a straight face, he stared deep into your eyes, slightly glossy and sparkling under the dim sunlight coming into the room. “But you’re my painkiller.”
“Yeah, I’m going to get you some meds,” you deadpanned, scooping up the tray to leave the grown-ass mafia boss whining and rolling around, throwing a tantrum.
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After some hard thinking and remembering that Wooyoung had given you his number, you called him up as you stood in the doorway, looking at San’s calm state of sleeping.
“My dear sister,” you heard a voice finally say over the phone, “what requires my assistance?”
“...Wooyoung?”
“Yes, dear sister?”
“What in the world has possessed you call me your ‘dear sister’?”
“Because you’re gonna be my friend’s wife some day, so I need to get used to seeing you as my sister-from-another-mister.”
Rubbing the bridge of your nose, you decided to not comment on his outlandish claims. “San’s not feeling well.”
“Is that why he sent us all away?” he laughed, somehow finding this situation amusing--since this is what his best friend tends to do; finds his weakened state as vulnerability, and if there was one thing San hated, it was feeling vulnerable.
But if he truly hated that, then why pursue this why you--when he know that it would force him to bring his guard down?
“I think so. No one was here when I came out of my room. Not the cooks or the maids or even the guards,” you said, taking another gander as if there might be someone roaming the halls to disprove your statement.
There wasn’t.
“Okay then. You want me to give you our private doctor’s number?”
Chuckling to yourself because you knew you were right (immediately confusing Wooyoung), you hummed, “yeah, that would be great.”
“O-Okay. Lemme text it to you. But do you need anything else? I know from experience San can get a little clingy when he’s not in his right mind,” he said, a boisterous giggle passing his lips.
“Nah, it’s fine.” You let your gaze brush over your captor’s figure. “Just send me the number and I’ll take it from there.”
“Okie dokie then, dear sister. I’ll leave you to deal with that enigma.”
“Alright, Wooyoung. See you tomorrow?”
“Call me ‘dear brother’, then maybe I’ll hang u--”
You shoved your phone into your back pocket after ending the call, thinking that it would take him a few minutes. Proving you wrong, the phone buzzes to life within the next ten seconds, Wooyoung sending you a couple of messages.
Wooyoung: Well that was a rude Wooyoung: No matter, I still love ya, dear sister Wooyoung: Probs should clarify that it’s platonic in case San sees it and gets all jelly Wooyoung: Anyway, here’s the number Wooyoung: XXXXXXXXXX
Y/N: Thanks, bro
Wooyoung: 🥺🥺 You called me ‘bro’
Smiling a little, you called the number--which had indeed taken you to a doctor’s clinic. After hearing of his exact temperature and other symptoms, the woman over the phone had concluded that it was as you first suspected--the common cold.
She told you to keep giving him painkillers and he should be fine within the week. Ending the call with a polite ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’, you left to get San more broth and medication, and hopefully you’d lay down with him again.
Which is exactly what you did for the rest of the day, opting to stay with him for the night too in order to make sure he really was okay. Thankfully, the worst of his fever had passed by the time morning came around and he was feeling much better.
You, however, were exhausted after looking after him, deep in your slumber as you shifted closer to San, who had broken free of his blanket prison and wrapped it around the two of you. The sunlight peeking through the window paled in comparison to the faint smile of glee San had adorned when he saw you.
Cheeked pressed up against his shoulder, and arm and a leg draped over his body like a koala clinging to a tree.
Just like he had thought the day before.
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☕︎ Tag list: @little-precious-baby​​​​ , @sparklychangbin​​​​ , @shawkneecaps​ If you wanna be tagged, feel free to ask!
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softtamaki · 3 years
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it’s gonna be okay
summary: your best friend would always make you feel loved and comforted and tonight was nothing different.
pairing: izuku midoriya x reader
genre: angst / fluff
word count: 2k
warnings: mean mom ;; it’s not too specific about why
a/n: requested by @lavenderbutton05 and i hope you like it :)
© 2021 by softtamaki
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so !!
currently there’s a lot of things that have been happening recently
some good :D
some bad >:(
but either way you’ve always had your best friend to cheer you up
that’s right izuku midoriya is your best friend!! but even that has a sour taste in your mouth since recently, you two have been very touchy
and technically katsuki bakugou is also your bff but like don’t tell anyone that because he gets REALLY angry
for legit no reason too
it’s not like you have friday 4pm solely dedicated towards going to your favorite shop and eating food
(you totally do but if ANYONE — even izuku — knew, goodbye free sweets hello angry bakugou)
back to the point
midoriya confessed to you a week ago but ran off before you could say it back, eventually you did tell him
the two of you are taking it really slowly and don’t have any labels (yet)
but midoriya has always managed to keep you on your toes
no like ,, literally
“come on, y/n. you got this!”
“izuku i swear to all might, are you trying to kill me?”
midoriya sighed and his hands went back to the side of his body
he was trying to get you outside
while trying not to get super flustered at using his first name (even though you’ve used it a million times)
he wants to know what’s bothering of late, you’re being secretive and generally dismissive and it’s making him worried
“just, trust me? i’ll catch you!”
currently, you were on the railing of the girls UA dorm building and midoriya was on the floor underneath
your regeneration quirk wouldn’t be that useful in this situation so you’re grateful that you’ve been training in different martial arts
aikido would be very helpful in this situation since it would be best at helping you get down gracefully
you jump down the railing and land on the flat ground with a loud slap due to the sandals you had on
it was too hot for shoes! slippers are much better for the fast approaching summer time
“so.. where are we going?”
“somewhere nice, a breath of fresh air. i-is that okay?”
you smiled and nodded your head, gesturing midoriya to continue forward
he led you for a few minutes in silence, it was a comfortable silence
you weren’t going far, or you know aizawa would get mad, but far enough to get away from the dorms and breathe
you talked about your internships and the way the league of villains had been acting up recently
the topic eventually led to your friends and when you were ranting about denki not paying attention during class, midoriya suddenly stopped
“yeah and he always asks me later about what we learned despite being there! it’s like he forgets everything.. oh are we here?”
“yeah, just a little over to the side. don’t get to annoyed at him though, i’m sure he means the best”
“yeah, yeah, i know”
you two stop at a bench and sit down
looking up you see the blurry sky, hazy from the light pollution of the city lights you see down below
it was pretty and it made you think about how small you really are
midoriya was a little upset that it wasn’t as starry of a night as he had predicted but that would be a later concern, right now you were the priority (you always were to him)
“y/n, is..is something wrong?”
“hm? what do you mean?”
“you’ve been awfully quiet during class. plus, at lunch when kacchan told denki to shut up, you didn’t even say anything..”
“should..i have said something?”
“i m-mean kacchan never means what he says but you usually do. plus you’re usually more up for this sort of thing and yet you were so hesitant..”
“can you blame me? did you hear about how many villains are—”
“okay! i get it.”
midoriya abruptly starts, upset that you’re still denying the fact that something is wrong
you had every right to not tell him but he feels this might be a ‘i-don’t-want-to-burden-others’ type of thing more than ‘it’s-none-of-your-business’ thing
but you’re not responding so maybe he was wrong? he looks up to your face and his heart cracks
you’re frowning and eyes are watering, like you just got bullied
“oh shoot, i didn’t mean-“
“i’ve just been so.. lost lately”
midoriya stops and looks softly at you
your hands are quivering at this point and so midoriya brushes his fingers against them
you can feel the gentleness of his touch and don’t retract your hand
instead, you crave it and slowly make a move to grab his fingers
he blushes and looks away, trying not to tear up at the sweet gesture
“other than villains and the internship, school has been hectic. i can’t seem to catch a break!”
“mhm, i feel you. it’s like everyone’s trying to make it our last year here.”
you laugh and nod
“plus! aizawa is letting us go on our first missions next month, like i know it’s just a practice mission but wow time has flown so fast..”
your smile slowly fades and you steel your jaw to not let your facade fall
“..and things at home aren’t that great either”
there it is
midoriya stops looking at the city lights and sees you rubbing your arm in hesitation
“take your time, don’t worry it’s okay.”
“my mom’s been really rude lately”
“you don’t have to say anything y/n”
“oh i know it’s just, i want to? if that’s okay.”
“of course, continue. i’m here for you”
“well you know me and i recently told m-my mother who i was and she didn’t have a great reaction..”
“oh y/n, i’m- i’m so sorry.”
“it hurts you know? like my mom is supposed to be the one person who supports me no matter what but now.. now she’s being so mean and i don’t know what to think anymore..”
midoriya looks down at your hand that’s now tightly clasped around his, and instead of getting nervous, he holds yours back with the same strength
when he looks back up, you’re crying and his heart shatters completely
he doesn’t like seeing you sad and knowing that someone hurt you like this makes him so angry
taking a deep breath, midoriya brings his other hand to your waist and pushes you into his chest
after a small yelp, you’re now hugging and sitting in midoriya’s lap
his sweater is probably going to be damp with the tear stain but with his hands quietly patting and rubbing your back, you don’t seem to care
“she thinks she’s known me but she really doesn’t. she thinks i’m lying about it.”
“lying? you would never lie about something like this.”
“right? is like you’re the only over who actually pays attention to me.”
you remove yourself from the crook of his neck and look up to your best friend/more than a friend/boyfriend
the person that’s been there since day 1 and has always been supporting everything you are and do
you’ve never felt scared or lonely knowing that he’s right there next to you
midoriya looks at you like you’re the only person in the world
like the stars in the sky are in your eyes and can tell him how wonderfully excited you get when fighting or practicing
but now your soft cheeks are damp and he doesn’t want his favorite person in the world to be crying
he slowly brushes your tears away, fighting back his own tears by seeing you in pain
the two of you just sit and bask in each other’s presence
“you’re safe with me.”
you try to push down the words that are lumped in your throat from his comfort, but you can’t
“izuku, i love you.”
“i love you too, y/n. everything going to be alright.”
he smiles wide and you can’t stop the grin from rising to your lips
he takes your cheeks into his hands and slowly pecks your forehead
he’s also blushing like crazy and you can vaguely feel his body shaking
you grin, and with a leap of faith you kiss his cheek and he almost combusts
“y/n! i-i’m supposed to be making you happy- not the other way around.”
“you do make me happy! this makes me happy izuku!”
you’ve completely lost him
he’s half contemplating if he should bury his head into your shoulder but the short sleeved shirt you’re wearing makes him surprised
his mood instantly changes and he’s setting you down next to him on the bench before you can even register it
you’re pouting and he’s got half the heart to kiss you again but (your) health comes first
so he takes off his blue hoodie and gently says “up”
now you’re flustered because “oh-my-god-he’s-giving-me-his-hoodie”
he pushes it down on you and you’re already liking the super soft material
he’s looking at your smile and he can’t help but tear up a little and goes to hug you tightly
at this point you’re never going to get tired or used to midoriya having his strong arms around you, it’s heaven
but you can feel him shaking and you’re worried now
“izuku? is something wrong?”
“no! no, it’s fine i-it’s just..your mom sucks..and you don’t deserve this, you know? you deserve everything in the world and i wish i could give it to you and not let anyone make you cry.”
“oh..you think i deserve the world?”
“no,”
you’re confused and he takes his head of your shoulder and looks down at you
“you deserve more than the world. and you definitely deserve people who build you up and love you, not hurt you like this.”
midoriya wonders if your smile from his words is the brightest thing he’ll ever see, and even when the sun comes up and he’s still holding you and talking, he’s proven right
“you’re really cheesy..”
he smiles with his eyes closed and his freckles are shining in the moonlight
“you make me really cheesy y/n.”
the two of you hug for longer, in the cold night but the comfort radiating off of him makes you warm
he lifts his head up,
“um, can i kiss you?”
the look you give him makes his heart do somersaults and he’s trying not to die just looking at you
you nod your head and with a vocalized yes and he dips in to capture your lips
it distracts you from the lulling pain in your heart and you’re happy for it
as much as you think you can talk about what’s bothering you for longer, you really just needed something else
you two separate and you fall into his chest and when you snuggle up beside him, he’s about to fall apart
the rest of the night, midoriya talks about anything and everything, trying to distract you and tell you that he loves you and everything will be okay
he never makes it seem that he’s upset or minds doing this and always makes you feel loved and comfy
patting your head and rubbing your back, you slowly fall asleep to his loving words and he keeps on holding you until the sun rises
instead of waking you up, he decides to carry you (he doesn’t even need his quirk because to him, you’re soft and as light as a feather)
he doesn’t know how he didn’t get in trouble when he opened the door to your dorm and set you in your bed
or when he was tucking you in and kissing your forehead goodnight
or when he kept sitting next to you, thinking about how much he wanted to cuddle you and take all your fears away
he ultimately said “screw it” and decided cuddles were more important
any teasing from your friends and an annoyed kacchan saying “finally deku!” tomorrow would all worth it when you shifted in your sleep and cuddled into izuku’s chest
the i love you’s you exchanged made everything okay and you were so happy to know that your best friend would always be at your side
it’s gonna be okay
96 notes · View notes
jaywritesfics · 3 years
Note
Since requests are open could I get platonic c!Tommy x female! reader?
Okay, so reader is almost perfect Technoblade copy. She is god at PvP, genius tactician and can build very well.
She never settles down, or at least it seems like it. She has a base far in the nether, hidden from everyone but not many know that. To people it seems like she is always on her way, gathering resources and training, always on the move.
One day, she saves smol (like 9-13 year old Tommy) from mobs and decides to help him with training (reader is already an adult). They form a parent-child bond and reader becomes this mother figure to him. However, reader after some time wants to leave, and does so, some time before events of the smp starts. She was kind of controlling the whole situation, as in as long as she was there she was the mediator for everyone, basically unofficial ruler of the server. The moment she disappeared, everything crumbled.
So, time skip to Tommy's exile when his mental and physical health is declining, reader returns from her adventures and stumbles upon him. She is angered at what had happened and after taking care of him and making sure to bring him to the normal state, she goes straight to the cities to bring back balance by kicking some ass.
I'm leaving ending up to you, hopefully it won't be this complicated
Good luck ❤️❤️❤️
OMG I LOVE THIS!!! I’m sorry if this seems a bit rushed... (Because it was...) I really wanted to get this done before the school week because I have so much stuff to do. I will make a second part since this was kinda short and not the entire story I had planned. I will try to get the second part out as soon as I can but for now I hope you enjoy this! I hope I did your request justice!
|Burning Pile |Part.1| Platonic c!Tommy x Reader|
Warnings?: Swearing, Angst, and mentions of suicide.
Request?: Yes!  Thanks lukerycyja for the request!
Pronouns?: None used but female reader implied. Also sorry if this isn’t completely accurate to the canon smp storylie its been so long since I’ve watched any of Tommyinnits Lore streams due to school work, so please cut me slack if I messed up on any of that stuff...0-0 
Extra notes?: Part two is on it’s way soon!
“Shit…” You’ve been traveling the surface for hours and you just now realized you forgot your axe at your base. You groan in annoyance and find a nearby tree and sit down to relax because your feet had started to hurt and you open your bag and take out some apples to eat. You usually come to the surface every other month for food and resources, as you live in the nether and it doesn’t have cows and pigs… Well unless you can call those Piglin actual pigs.
“Okay,” You begin to say to yourself, 
“I forgot my axe and now I have to go all the way back to my portal…*sigh*, why do I do this to myself?” You take a bite of your apple and you just sit and take in the scenery. When you spot a couple of tree stumps and a wood wall not too far away from where your sat.
 “Oh shit.” You say aloud, dropping your apple. You hear the sound of humming coming from behind the wall and you stand up to hurry and get out of there…You never interact with anyone… your by yourself all the time... You used to have company though. A little boy you saved so many years ago. Tommy. His name was Tommy. You basically raised him for years… He was like a son to you. You trained him to fight and fend for himself when he eventually grew up and didn’t need you anymore. You haven’t seen him since you decided to leave. Why did you leave? You can’t quite remember. You hear a voice coming from behind the wall… it sounds so familiar. You near the wall and you place an ear against it to listen in on whoever is behind it. 
“Why Tubbo? Why. Why? Why?” The voice sounds even more familiar than before, Is it who you think it is? If so, who's Tubbo? Maybe it’s not him… It couldn’t be… You walk around and spot an opening and you peer around the corner. You see the backside of the person. Short yet untamed blonde hair, Red and white tore shirt and ripped tan pants. It’s him… It has to be… You step inside the structure, tears rolling down your face. 
“Tommy?” You say in a shaky voice. He turns around eyes wide. He has bags under his eyes, and the once light blue color has faded to blue-tinted grey. He stares at you and his jaw drops. A single tear falls from his eye then he shuts his mouth and turns away covering his ears with his hands.
“Dream whatever sick game you're playing I’m not falling for it! One of these days so help me I’ll kill you!”  Dream? Who is… Shit, You’ve been gone so long you can’t seem to remember a single damn other person. 
“Tommy, I don’t know who Dream is but… it’s me… Y/n… I- I’m sorry for leaving I just…”
“Just stop!” He throws a sword at your head but it just misses you and hits the wall beside you. 
“Now come on I taught you better than that…” You say to him, walking up to him and kneeling down to look him in the eyes. 
“It’s really me Tommy-” You try to finish your sentence but he already has his arms wrapped around you. You can feel teardrops falling on your shoulders and you can’t help but start crying too.
“Y/n… I missed you! Why did you have to leave! You bitch!” He hugs you tighter as he speaks, more tears rolling down his face.
“I’m sorry Tommy I just… I don’t remember… and- I- I’m sorry…” Your makeshift “family reunion” is interrupted by an arrow flying past both your heads. You stand up and turn around to see a tall man in a green hoodie with a mask with some silly face on it. It must be that Dream guy Tommy was talking about. 
“Who the fuck are you bitch?” He says pointing his crossbow at you. 
“What did you just call me? Also, a 5-year-old called, he wants his arts and crafts project back.” You say, he tenses up and takes a step forward.
“Leave now or I’ll put an arrow in your head, bitch.” He adjusts his crossbow and you reach for the bow and arrow on your back and in an instant you fire an arrow at him, piercing his arm. 
“Now I could have put it through your head but I like to look my victims in the eyes when I kill them… it's more fun that way.” You tell him with a huge grin on your face. He drops his crossbow and pulls the arrow out of his arm and takes an ender pearl out of his pocket and throws it in the distance and he disappears within seconds. You look behind you to see Tommy shocked and crying. You kneel down, pick him up and start walking him over to what seems to be his bed. You set him down and give him one of the apples in your bag. 
“Are you okay Tommy? You don’t seem well.” You tell him, wiping the tears from his eyes. 
“I’m- I’m fine-” He tries to get his words out but he passes out and you quickly pick him up and hold him in your arms. You can still feel him breathing so you don’t worry too much, but you also can’t help but cry. You lay him down and you put his blanket over him. You decide that he probably is just stressed out and needs sleep so you let him rest. You take this time to hunt down some cows and pigs for food. You walk around paranoid that Dream might come back and try to hurt you or Tommy. You bag about 2 cows and 4 pigs and just as you return from hunting you see Tommy sitting on the bed with his face buried in his hands. You drop your kills and you walk over to sit down on the bed beside him. 
“You feel a bit better? If so then I gotta ask you… What are you doing alone out here all by yourself? You’re only like what, 16 at most? When I left, you had friends and other allies… how did you end up all alone?” You question him, he looks at you angered,
“How did I end up alone? How did I fucking end up alone?” He then stands up and starts to yell at you,
“You fucking left me! You left me with nothing but a couple of years of bloody sword training and the mentality of a soldier! I thought you actually cared for me like a son… But no, you just saw me as another helpless little boy who needed your guidance… Well, I don’t need your help! I can’t be helped! I’m the one who got exiled. I’m the one whose friends betrayed him!” His voice goes from a yell to a soft stern voice.
“I tried to build a nation… It was amazing... but I fail at everything. It crumbled...I should have never even tried… I should have offed myself when I had the chance…” He’s on the floor on his knees, sobbing with his head in his hands again. You stand up from the bed and kneel down to hug him. 
“Tommy… I’m so sorry that that’s how you felt about it… I had no idea how I really affected you… Tommy… I- I’m so sorry… I do love you like a son Tommy... And you’re the best son anyone could ask for… your not a failure, you deserve to live… but may I ask…”
You release him from the hug and look at him in the eyes,
“What do you mean by exiled?” (you decide to skip over the whole “build a nation” part, because you really aren’t surprised by it.) 
“Tubbo- I mean Dream. Well… They banished me from L’manberg they banished me from my home!  They banished me here to live on my own… I have nothing…”
“You don’t have nothing… You have me. I’ll help you, Tommy.” Your blood boils. They banished Tommy... Why? You don’t care… either way, you’re going to kill them… Whoever this Tubbo guy is… Your gonna kill him and Dream. You stand up and bring Tommy to his feet and wipe away his tears. 
“Go practice your sword throwing Tommy, I’ll make us some dinner.” You say as you walk over to the sword he had previously attempted to throw at you and take it out the wall.
“Hey, my sword throwing is great!” 
“Heh.. sure.” You hand him his sword and he groans jokingly and he walks outside and starts throwing his sword at some tree. You chuckle at the sight and you start to prepare your guy’s meal. You also grab your own sword and examine it. You sigh,
“Those bitches are gonna get what’s coming to them…” You whisper to yourself under your breath.
“Hey y/n! I hit my target!” Tommy yells to you.
“Good Tommy! I’m proud of you…”
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shirtlesssammy · 3 years
Text
4x17: It's a Terrible Life
How have we not recapped this yet? Man, this one holds a special place in Boris’s heart -- even if it’s a Cas-less episode. (Natasha: I LITERALLY said the same thing.)
Then:
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This is just gratuitous
Now:
Okay, by this point we know the premise of this episode. I’m just going to list all the Well Respected Man things Dean Smith does. 
He wakes up at 6:00am to an iPod. 
He steams his rice milk.
He wears suspenders and cufflinks. 
He drives a Prius.
He turns off the hard rock for NPR. 
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Dean Smith is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Sandover Bridge and Iron. 
He types memos in Word.
He uses a headset to talk on the phone. 
He plays office mini-golf while schmoozing on said headset. 
He watches Project Runway (Ok, Dean Winchester totally watches that too, lbr.)
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HE EATS SALAD.
He says the word ‘vis-a-vis’.
His boss Mr. Adler is very impressed with him. Good stuff!
He works late.
He is thinking of doing the Master Cleanse. 
He leaves at 5:30 (or really a couple minutes before, rebel!)
On the elevator ride out of the building, another passenger asks if he knows Dean. Dean, focused on his Blackberry, does not recognize the dude. The other dude won’t let it go and Dean tells him to “save it for the health club” before leaving. 
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Sam Wesson works in the Tech Support section of Sandover. He mainly tells people to turn it off and back on again. Works every time! Sam and another buddy, Ian, head for coffee. They ask Paul, another worker, if he wants to join them. He’s busy working! Okay, okay, wait one moment. Paul got caught surfing porn on company computers and he still has a job!? WOW. 
Ian grabs some office pencils in the break room. (And we get a nice little intro shot from within the microwave….very nice easter egg for us second (and beyond) viewers.) He then asks Sam about the dreams he’s been having. Sam tells Ian that he dreamed that he saved a grim reaper named Tessa from demons. Ian finds that HILARIOUS. 
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At his clown car sized cubicle later, Sam drifts off, only to have vivid visions of murder and monsters --and Dean’s in them. He bolts awake, and looks around disconcerted. 
Sam takes a walk and ends up in the same elevator as Dean again. They eye each other warily. Sam asks Dean what he thinks of ghosts. TOTALLY NORMAL ELEVATOR TALK. Dean hasn’t really given them much thought. Vampires either. Sam decides now is a good time to corner a perfect stranger and tell him about his CRAZY dreams. That’s what a journal is for, Sam! Dean dismisses this crazy man and exits the elevator. 
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Sam starts researching (AW BABY) the monsters he’s been dreaming about. Ian interrupts him and tells him that he got an email telling him to report to HR. He’s not too worried as he heads off to his fate. Sam then hears Paul freaking out because he just lost a whole day’s work. 
Paul stays way past closing time trying to find his lost files to no avail. His breath puffs. They must turn the temp down after hours at Sandover. He heads to the breakroom, sticks a plastic fork in the door of the microwave and sticks his head in the microwave, and hits cook. GOOD STUFF. 
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The next day, as Paul’s body gets carted away, the entire office looks on, including Sam Wesson and Dean Smith. Dean thinks there’s something weird going on. He looks up Paul’s personnel file (um, like whoa, how did he get access to that?) and learns that he was set to retire in two weeks. Curious. 
Sam is curious as well, but Ian is too busy working to engage. Dean calls Ian up to his office. Dean points out that there were just a few errors in a form he filled out yesterday. Ian is very remorseful. Dean doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal. He just wants him to fix the errors. Very un-Ian-like, Ian starts freaking out over his mistakes. Ian runs to the bathroom and Dean follows. He finds Ian staring at himself in the mirror. His breath frosts just before all the water and soap turn on. He insists Ian leave with him. Ian turns to look at Dean, and stabs himself with a pencil. GUH. Dean sees the reflection of an old man in the bathroom stall door as Ian dies. Dean calls for help. 
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Dean is relaying the events to the authorities when he sees Sam looking on. Later, he calls Sam to his office. 
For Thirst Science:
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Sam and Dean learn that they both started working at Sandover three weeks prior. (Dean! You picked a hell of a week to start the Master Cleanse!) Sam asks Dean if he saw something when Ian died. Dean doesn’t quite admit it but he saw a ghost! Sam wonders about the suicides. “What if these suicides aren't suicides? I mean, what if they're something not natural?” 
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Sam brings up his dreams again. “So you're telling me that your dreams are special visions and you're some kind of psychic?” Lololololol. No, OF COURSE NOT. Sam shows Dean emails that Ian and Paul got that sent them to HR on the 14th floor --the HR office is on the 7th floor. Hmm. They decide to head to the 14th floor and room 1444. 
Mr. Blandface McBlanderson heads there first. It’s an old storage room. The air gets frosty, electronics buzz on. Sam and Dean rush down the hallway after hearing the man’s cries. The door is locked but Sam Fucking Wesson just busts it open. Dean is duly impressed. Sam is too. 
The ghost old man attacks Sam and Dean but Dean smashes him away with a wrench (an IRON wrench).
Decompressing back at Dean’s place, Sam longs for beer. “I’m on a cleanse,” Dean explains as he gets him a water. “I got rid of all the carbs in the house.” Oh DEAN.
At the end of this cleanse you chalk a pentagram on the floor, light a black candle, and barter your soul to get rid of those last five pounds
They compliment each other on their ghost fighting prowess. Sam “Boy Wonder” Wesson briefly tells Dean about how he feels out of place in his life. That’s SO MUCH oversharing, Sam! They decide to hit the research track. Dean finds………..the GHOSTFACERS. 
We montage our way through Smith & Wesson’s research, interspersed with Ghostfacer tips. A guy named Sandover turns out to be the ghost - a workaholic who lived for his company. Turns out he’ll kill for it too. They trace a number of historical deaths to Sandover employees. It turns out that the room with the ghost attack was Sandover’s office. 
The Ghostfacers continue to educate Sam and Dean on the finer points of ghost hunting: SALT. IRON. GUN.
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Dean absorbs this, then wonders where one might even purchase a gun. Isn’t there a waiting period? Oh, sweet summer child. This here is the United States of America and it’s far too easy to get a gun. The Ghostfacers lesson continues...
Ed: The aforementioned super-annoying Winchester douchenozzles also taught us this one other thing. You have to burn the remains.
Harry: Okay, this next part gets a little gross. Sometimes you might have to dig up the body. Sorry.
Ed: It's illegal in some states.
Harry: All states.
Ed: Possibly all states.
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Smith and Wesson return to the office to search for pieces of non-cremated Sandover. Sam gets cornered by a baby-faced security guard, leaving Dean alone to continue the hunt. In Sam’s elevator, electronics start to glitch. It’s probably nothing! The guard pries open the elevator door and crawls out onto the next floor.
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The elevator slips and the guard falls victim to the blood cannon. Sam adds this incident to his list of Terrible Things That Happen in Elevators.
Sam and Dean reconnect by a historical display which includes Sandover’s gloves. Those gloves seem like likely candidates for remnant DNA...and in short order the ghost proves them right. Old Man Sandover zaps in as they break the glass. They fight!
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Sandover looks like he’s got the upper hand, lowering his brain-zapping fingers to Dean, when Sam lights the gloves on fire. Sandover goes up like a torch.
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Smith and Wesson are amped up after the fight! Sam wants to hunt ghosts full time. Dean scoffs at this. “How would we get by? Stolen credit cards, eating diner food drenched in saturated fats, sharing a crap motel room every night...You don’t want to go fighting ghosts without any health insurance!” Wise words. 
For Look at this Well-Prepared Sunshine Science:
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Sam confesses that his hunting dreams featured Dean as well. “What if that’s who we really are?” Sam wonders. 
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Dean defends the reality of his life. HE WENT TO STANFORD. His father’s name is Bob, his mother’s name is Ellen, and his sister is Jo. Excuse me. I’m just going to….stand outside my door and HOWL MOURNFULLY about this with the local coyotes. 
“We’re supposed to be someone else.” Sam tells Dean that he started at Sandover because he broke up with Madison - but now her number leads to an animal hospital. (I swear to god, I’m gonna chew off my own arm at this show.) Sam says that Dean’s more than just a corporate suit. Dean shoos Sam from his office. 
The next morning, Sam’s back at the daily grind. He steps back from his phone and then swings a crowbar at it, Office Space style. 
Upstairs, Zachariah smarms his way into Dean’s office and clucks that he looks tired. He’s heard good things about Dean and offers him a generous bonus.
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Zachariah hints that a big promotion could happen in 8-10 short years of constant work and sacrifice. The joy in Dean’s eyes fades. Dean turns it down and tells Zachariah that he plans to quit. “I have some other work I have to do,” Dean tells him. “This - it’s not who I’m supposed to be.” Zachariah smiles and zaps Dean’s brain. The camera desaturates.
“My god am I hungry,” a confused Dean observes as Zachariah chuckles. (Stop reading Goop, Dean! Get off that cleanse!) Zachariah explains that he’s Castiel’s boss, and he’s on Earth to ensure that the Winchesters fulfill their destiny - as hunters! 
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“You’re a hunter,” Zachariah explains. It’s in Dean’s blood. (I hiss at this.) And if Dean works hard enough, he’ll do everything he’s “destined to do. All of it.” GUH. Zachariah urges Dean to embrace his life. It could be worse, after all!
Semi-quote Kinda Life, Baby:
Good stuff
Did you try turning it off and then on? 
Look, man, I don't know you, okay? But I'm gonna do a public service and let you know that you overshare
How the hell did you know that ghosts are scared of wrenches?
I don’t believe in destiny. I believe in dealing with what’s right in front of us 
Most folks live and die without moving anything more than the dirt it takes to bury them. You get to change things
 Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!
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jay-jay-the-simp · 3 years
Text
New Genshin OC voice-lines
Genshin voicelines
Name: Phoenix [REDACTED] - Prideful Sin
Origin: Another world (Earth)  
Affiliations: Knight of Favonius
Power: Miasma emission/Teleportation
Weapon: Claymore
Star name: Sabik Orion (Not real)
Birth day: 30/11
-Elemental Skill (Oźy Pit: Acidic Feeling): Because I’m not smart in writing, Phoenix basically just makes orange/Purple acid appear from the ground, and infused with Dendro will cause “Burn”.
-Elemental Burst (Scarlet’s Will: A’tellifs Silence): Again, I’m not smart so what happens is that Phoenix will make a circle under the target, which will turn into a portal, making other portal inside the circle, teleporting the target everywhere whilst Phoenix teleports along with it and attacks it.
Role: Main DPS
Good: CRIT DMG, CRIT RATE, ATK, Movement SPD
Decent: CD,
Bad: DEF, HP, ER, EM
Constellations:
• Tint of Evil: Increases Oźy Pit: Acidic Feeling by 10%
• Brooding Silence: Every time teammate dies, Oźy Pit: Acidic Feeling will decrease by 30%
• Red Illness: Scarlets Will: A’tellifs Silence increases by 20%, but decreases 500 health every second.
• Lizards Wrath: Oźy Pit: Acidic Feeling Will increases by 10s.
• A’tellifs Ring: Scarlets Will: A’tellifs Silence becomes more powerful with Dendro bursts.
• Kings Cruelty: Any other character gets they’re healthy decreases so Phoenix’s health will increase.
———————————————————————————————————————
-Hello: Heya! I’m Phoenix and I am also from another world it’s nice to meet you!
-Good Morning: *Yawns* Good Morning Albe- Oh, it’s you, sorry thought you were someone else.
-Good afternoon: I’m starving! Let’s go before I start eating humans.
-Good evening: Can we have snack time? Please, please, please!
-Good night: Night time… It gives me memories of my home world, not good ones… But need’nt bother because I need to go to sleep and you do too, I’ll talk to you in the morning.
-When it rains: *Achoo* Even being the 6th son of one of the most powerful beings out there, my immune system is still so very weak, ugh…
-When is windy: Is Venti drunk again…?
-When there’s a thunderstorm: Is the Electro Archon mad at us or is Ei still gaining time to think about redemption.
-When it snows: As a person born  and raised in a laboratory, snow isn’t very common, but I’ve been in DragonSpine way too many times to know what it looks like.
-Chat (divinity): I do indeed have god blood running through my veins, but that doesn’t mean I am god. My mother was human and my father, well, my father will never be one, so I’m more of a Demigod.
-Chat (divinity) ll: Being seen as a Divine Being by others isn’t much of a choice, unless of course, you want it to be. But I have never wanted to be known as the 6th “Scarlet Child” or “Pride”, it’s a bad title once you know who my father is or what it means.
-Chat the (Fatui): All I know is to kill them once they enter my prephiral vision. But I must say that they are very annoying.
-About Albedo: He’s the one who accidentally teleported me here and also the one who takes care of me, usually people think he’s my father, but honestly, he’s just my teacher. Unfortunately anything I do or say will get him in trouble, so I can’t ever leave anywhere without him.
-About Sucrose: She’s super nice but seems to analyze me a lot, she helps me with my homework and usually helps me when Albedo can’t. I guess I am a bit confused on why she wants to create a different world, although I know how to do it, it’s better if she didn’t, since it’d have to kill her in the process.
-About Kaeya: The most annoying and flirtatious guy I’ve ever seen, ugh, he sucks! Kaeya always makes me do HIS work and it’s so annoying! I swear to 343 I’m gonna kill him someday!
-About Diluc: Master Diluc? He’s okay I guess, I don’t really wanna intrude his personal space, but I am very curious on why he acts all sad…
-About Eula: She is one of the most amazing people in Teyvat! She’s good at basically everything and she’s very nice! She dances ballet with me and teaches me how to use the Claymore! I don’t get why people don’t like her, probably jealousy.
-About Jean and Barbara: They are super nice! Although I haven’t “formally” met Jean before, I can tell she’s a very hardworking person! Barbara is too, but I do feel bad that they’re always working and never resting…
-About Mona: An astrologist who couldn’t tell me anything about my family… Figured. But I honestly like her a lot for not taking the advantage of astrology and making money, even if she’s in need of it.
-About Venti: Barbatos! Such a responsible god to the point I need to drag him out of the tavern when he’s blackout drunk… Ugh, whatever.
-About Chongyun and Xingqiu: Chogyun is quite scared of me, this may be news to you but I wasn’t born human, in fact, I was born as a demon whose bigger than Azhdaha and Osial, this is only my 3rd human form, so of course my aura carries demon aura, Chongyun gets quite scared around me. Xingqiu on the other hand, he likes flirting with me since we’re both the same age, but it’s just friend flirting since we’re all only friends.
-About Xiao: He doesn’t trust me at all, but because of Aether and Ganyu, he can’t do anything. But in his eyes, I’m only a demon who needs to be executed, nothing else…
-About Ganyu: She’s pretty cool! But whenever I’m in Liyue, Ganyu starts taking care of me as if I’m her child, although it’s nice… I feel bad for taking up the time she could’ve used to rest….
-About Zhongli: Heh, names the worlds currency after himself, a bit cocky don’t you think? Honestly, he doesn’t do any effort to hide his identity.
-About Kazuha: Sometimes brings me along boat rides, sometimes doesn’t. Very kinds but so very serious. He’s a mix, but a good one. Sometimes he makes me wish I were 18, but I should stop fanboying before the wind tells him about this.
-About Sara: Dedicated to her job, independent, goes by the rules. A good person honestly.
-About Ei: An archon who wants, or wanted to keep her land equal as it always was. She doesn’t understand how humans work, but she’s getting the hang of it.
-About Ryuuko: A smart and funny person, she thinks that just because I’m shorter than her, she can pat my head! Scounderous! She’s just like Dr.Clef, ugh….
-About Phoenix l: I kind of rebelled against my father…. Not really since I do still destroy worlds and take Pride in genocide, but he thinks I’m in another world, so I’m basically lying to him about Teyvat’s existence.
-About Phoenix ll: People are always surprised when they see my real form, it’s as if I’m not the same demon, of course I am! This is my real personality.
-About Phoenix lII: I mock my siblings a lot without you even knowing! They can tell when they’re being mocked and it’s honestly so hilarious hearing them complain!
-Phoenix’s hobbies: Usually I just do Alchemy and train with Eula but I also go adventuring with Bennet or cook with Xiangling. Hm? Oh, well, I guess fighting Osial with you, the adepti and the Qixing was fun, but it’s not a hobbie.
-Phoenix troubles: I hate hate hate Dendro slimes! All of them are so annoying! Every time I am getting materials for Sucrose or Albedo, they always pop up and scare me! I wish they all disappeared.
-Favorite Food: I love Noelles pancakes! They’re honestly the best and so tasty! I can melt just thinking about them! (*starts actually melting* No wait stop pls-)
-Least favorite food: Wolfhook, it’s so salty… I don’t know why people like it, bleh! It’s only good for healing.
-Birthday: What’s a… Birthday? Oh wait, I remember celebrating this day with Diona once! Ahem, I congratulate you for living another day to come back to the date of which your mother screaming in pain, happy birth.
-Feelings about Ascension (intro): I feel a bit weird… But stronger!
-Feelings about Ascension (building up): How does this work??? Why is Ryuuko saying my soul ate Ruin Guard parts? Ahhhhhh help!
-Feelings about Ascension (climax): I feel so tingly…
-Feelings about Ascension (conclusion): I’m so powerful now! I can definitely defeat my brother now!
-Elemental Skill: Acidic Waves! Ha! Feel the Acid!
-Elemental Burst: Feel the Scarlet Kings Pride! Death Upon You! A Sin not to be Forgiven!
-Sprint (start): Lets go! I’m not fit enough for this!
-Sprint (end): *pant* All I can feel is pain… *pant
-Wing glider: Yahoo! *giggles* I’ve only had fun like this before the Melting Sun 001 incident!
-Jumping: Oop!
-Plunging attack: Dizzy….
-Charged attack: Spin spin spin! The world is spinning!
-Low HP: Healer please! Hurts a lot! *sniffling*
-Light hit taken: That’s it? / Haha! / Shouldve trained more!
-Heavy hit taken: A-agh! / You’re good / You trained for a long time, haven’t you?
-Death: The King will… Rise / Impossible.. / So.. Dark… / Congratulations, you’ve killed the 6th child/ Seems like you… won
-Light attack: Heh! / Hmph!
-Decent attack: Egh
-Heavy attack: Weakling / *laughing*
-Defeating enemies: Should’ve kept your mouth shut / This is what happens when duel a demigod / I’ve won
-Joining party: Let’s-a go! Hello new friends! *Gasp* So many experiences!
-Chest: All that for an empty chest? So many materials! Can I take them?
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ayesh-sha · 2 years
Text
my mom reacting to my sibling's health sheets and daily life style, part one.
@florence-wayne-official + their family <3
florence wayne
"hai meri jaan, just kill me at this point because the amount of energy drinks should have killed her."
"god, i swear. her sleep schedule."
"medically, it is a miracle they've not slept for five months, and still continue to somewhat function, but, bhagwan save me, how-"
"the iron deficiency is killing me, how has it not murdered them yet-"
"i am going to throw my chappal at whoever let this kid use the lazurus pit so many times. there's a limit, god"
"their food plan. i thought everything else was worse, but this food plan."
"ayesh, get maasi (my mom's sister, who's a therapist). tell maasi i've got a new family for her to take over."
"hai ram, why did you leave me alive to see this diet." *starts sobbing*
"why does she even- ten bullets wounds. tEN BULLET WOUNDS IN THE PAST WEEK."
"im suing bruce."
"there's a hundred and fifty ways they could have avoided that bullet. i will yell."
"why are they deficient of every single vitamin ever. why. why. why."
"on all accords, they shouldn't be fucking ALIVE."
"of course talia kills them. of course. aysh, im gonna slap your tali aunty so hard, she's going to break her jaw."
"how does she even have blood left, why does she have any left, what-"
"meri jaan, im going to hug this person and then slap her."
"the amount this person is pushing herself. i will."
rose wilson
"okay, the food is a bit better here, BUT OHMYGOD THE INJURIES"
"okay i get she's a part of the fbi and a physically advanced human being, but this is-"
"DOES NO ONE IN THE FAMILY SLEEP"
"how is it that despite her being physically advanced, there's a vitamin d deficiency. someone put this person in the sun before i drag her ass to mumbai."
"god i know i said the food was better, but there isn't enough carbs in this diet"
"are these people vegan, why isn't anyone having milk"
"you know, for a physically advanced human, this is actually pretty good. i'd say some improvements are due, but otherwise, its much better."
peter parker-wayne ( @peterparkerpickssomepickles )
"okay. this guy is a baby and i might shake him."
"does he eat only pizza"
"aish, i don't care he was bitten by a spider, i just care about the fact he's not eaten anything but waffles and pizza in the last three weeks."
"and he's got blown up twice. great."
"he's a vigilante. okay then, but i still want him to patrol during the day four times a week so he can get some shut eye."
"someone get this guy water"
"even more iron deficiency, great!"
"how is he a superhuman with iron deficiency"
"i love that rose and florence are taking care of him, but im going to have to give him some iron tablets-"
"why the fuck does he workout that much, he can just play sports and do an hour of strength building exercises, he doesn't need to over do it"
"i will cry, why are there no vitamins in this guy."
"his ankle is twisted, if he doesnt rest for fourteen days, it could be permanently hurt and i swear to god-"
"okay for a teenager, everything else looks okay, but i want him and florence to have the first session with maasi"
benjamin wayne ( @gothamsucks )
"what excuse does this kid have for not eating properly"
"okay, i know being a student is hard, but i am sure we can figure out a way so he can get at least fifteen hours every week."
"mind you, im being nice"
"bhagwan save me, the amount of deficiencies."
"vitamin c and d, of course."
"there's iron deficiency in this entire family"
"im going to start giving him my home made food, because clearly american stuff isnt working."
"HES A GROWING BOY AYSH"
"i will hug him and feed him food"
"this isn't even his parent's fault, america has trashy food"
"this guy is getting three rotis and daal bhat everyday and i will feed him with my hands"
"promogran fruit juice. that's all i ask off at this point."
note to them all from her:
"please please please contact me and tell me your daily routine and what your day or night looks like. we need to get this shit sorted out."
translations
hai meri jaan — oh my god, my life
bhagwan — god
chappal — slipper
maasi — mom's sister
hai ram — oh god
meri jaan — my life
roti — kind of a bread
daal bhat — rice and daal, i forgot what daal is pls google
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twinklecheeks · 4 years
Text
Friends With Benefits (Jeff Wittek Imagine) Part 11
Summary: Jeff and Y/N have been hooking up for a while. The whole vlog squad assumes they’re dating and Y/N does too but Jeff doesn’t like labels. He eventually starts to express interest in Natalie.
Note: Planning on making this a multiple part series, depending on how good it does.  You’re 21 & Latina in this (maybe) series. Also, I’d like to apologize for the typos, if there is any. I’m just illiterate lmao.  
Side note: Sorry it took me over a week to post this! I just started my last semester of college and I also have a part time job, so I’ve been super tired. I’ll try to be more consistent.
Warnings! Pregnancy, Smut 
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,
Word Count: 2k
Christmas Eve 12/24/2019
Y/n: *Wakes up and stares at Jeff peacefully sleeping*
Jeff: *moans*
Y/n: *looks down and notices Jeff has a boner* Hmmm *gently rubs the swollen tip of Jeff’s cock*
Jeff: *thrusts into y/n’s hand*
Y/n: *Smirks and quietly gets out of bed to lock the door* *Pulls Jeff’s boxer’s down and sees his cock slap against his abs* *Softly licks the base of his Jeff’s cock all the way to the tip and sucks the head*
Jeff: *moans* mmm fuck.
Y/n: *You use the entirety of your palms and fingers with just how big and long he is. You hum greedily as you do this*
Jeff: *wakes up and smirks* I guess it’s a very Merry Christmas to me.
Y/n: I can suck on your cock all day daddy *winks*
Jeff: *groaning at how fast you’re going* F-fuck baby the way you’re moaning. You’re gonna kill me *bucks his hips*
Y/n: Shhh, I don't want them to know I’m sucking your cock ;) *continues to deepthroat feeling him twitch*
Jeff: Oh my fucking god baby yesss. Fuck me, fuck me, over and over. I swear I’d be fucking you every nigh- JESUS FUCK *cums inside her mouth*
Y/n: *swallows and sucks his cock clean* That was a great way to start Christmas.
Jeff: *laughs* Me cumming in you?
Y/n: *smirks* Mhmmm, I love it when you’re in me ;)
Jeff: What time is it?
Y/n: It’s 7:42am. I think your mom is already up cooking.
Jeff: Well if you want to see the Christmas parade at 11 w/ Jonah’s family, round 2 in the shower has to be a quickie.
Y/n: *looks down at his cock* You’re still hard? You just came a bunch in my mouth.
Jeff: I’m always hard for you babe *winks*
*After the Christmas Parade*
Suzie: I loved the parade! New York is so pretty during Christmas.
Vardon: Christmas is also more fun w/ snow.
Jonah: Guys it was fucking freezing outside.
Y/n: It was only 38 degrees.
Jeff’s mom: Oh good you guys are back. Marie (Jonah’s mom) and I are almost done with the food.
Jeff: Ma you’ve been cooking since like 6am. Have you had a break?
Jeff’s mom: We also did some last minute shopping/ gift wrapping. Everybody gets to open one present today and the rest tomorrow.
Y/n: You guys open presents tomorrow?
Jeff’s dad: Yeah, doesn’t everybody?
Y/n: Well in the Hispanic/ Latinx community, we call today Hispanic Christmas. So we open our presents today and then we spend the 25th stuffing our faces in left overs. We open on the 24th cause we’re too impatient and yes, we know Jesus was born on the 25th.
Jeff: Maybe we can do that w/ the girls next year.
Jeff’s mom: *tears up* Oh god you’re going to have daughter’s next year.
Jeff: Maaaa don’t cry again.
Y/n: Oh we are definitely doing hispanic christmas. If my sister comes over, she’d want to open the presents like a week before. She’s the most impatient. One year, she opened presents at like 3-4pm.
Jeff’s mom: I’m such a cry baby. Now help me set up the table!
*everybody helps set the plates and food*
Jeff’s dad: does anybody want to start the prayer?
Jeff: I’ll do it.
Karyn: Really? The last time you did it was Easter 2005 and you couldn’t stop laughing.
Jeff’s mom: Karyn.
*everybody holds hands*
Jeff: oh Heavenly Father, thank you for all that you’ve brought us. I know that Christmas is about you but I’d like to say thanks. Thank you for keeping everybody here in good health because I don’t know where I’d be w/ out them. I’m grateful for the supportive family and friends you have given me and most importantly, y/n. I know we were very rocky until recently but you brought her into my life for a reason. She was changing me into a better person and I was too stubborn to accept it. Now she’s going to be the mother of my 2 amazing daughters. Those babies already have me wrapped around their fingers and they’re not even here yet. I can’t wait for the day y/n and I get married and have however many babies you give us but don’t make it twins each time cause that’s gonna make my hair gray fast
Jeff’s mom: Jeffrey-
Jeff: okay I’m just kidding… kind of but you know what I mean. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and the rest of my family. Amen.
Everybody: Amen
Jeff’s dad: Hun are you crying?
Y/n: *sniffles her nose* NO. Maybe…. I wouldn't have thought Jeff was religious.
Karyn: Only during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
Jeff’s Dad: Karyn stop teasing your brother. Now that the prayer is over with, let’s eat!
Jeff’s mom: Marie and I spent all morning cooking. Also, since this is y/n’s first Christmas w/ us, I wanted to bring some of the food she eats during the holidays.
Y/n: What food?
Jeff’s mom: *shows the Pernil* (pernil is pork shoulder)
Y/n: NO YOU DIDN’T *tastes the food* AND IT TASTES JUST LIKE OUT MY DAD MAKES IT. How did you make it?!
Jeff: She asked me a couple of days ago what you eat during the holidays and I found your sister on instagram. I got the recipe from her.
Jeff’s mom: I saw that it was a Puerto Rican dish so I asked one of my friends who knows how to make it to show me the steps.
Y/n: Oooo imma try not to cry again but THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Jonah: Can we eat now
After Dinner
Y/n: I ate so much, I think I’m having triplets. But thank you once again. I was pretty nervous to come here because I didn’t know how y’all would react to me.
Karyn: Just know that when we get mad, it’s at Jeff cause he’s always the one that somehow messes up.
Jeff: What time is it?
Suzie: It’s 7pm. Should we watch Christmas movies and then open presents before bed?
Vardon: Let’s watch the Grinch
Jonah: *ignores Vardon* Any other suggestions? Please. ANY OTHER.
Karyn: Y/n what do you watch for Christmas.
Y/n: Well, my personal favorite is Jingle all the Way but the Christmas Line up in my family is usually Home Alone 2, A Diva’s Christmas Carol, A Very Brady Christmas, the I Love Lucy Christmas episode and other’s I can’t remember.
Jeff: I mean, we are in New York. Home Alone 2?
Everybody: Sure.
*After watching Christmas movies*
Jeff’s mom: It’s 9:45pm. I think we should be opening our one present before we go to bed.
Jeff: Youngest to oldest! So my niece goes first, then Vardon, Y/n, Suzie, Jonah, etc.
*Jeff’s nieces and Vardon opens their gifts*
Vardon: No way. Jeff got me airpods! Thank you *Hugs Jeff*
Jeff: You’re welcome. Now time for y/n to open her gift from me.
Y/n: Oooo okay. *opens gift and sees two little gold bracelets* what are these for?
Jeff: I always see babies w/ the small little charm bracelet. You mentioned your sister and you never got that from your parents but your older brother did. I wanted to do that for our girls even though they're not here yet. So once we pick out the names, we’ll get the charms.
Y/n: *sniffles* Dammit why do you keep making me cry.
Jeff: Cause I don’t want you to ever forget how much I love you.
Jonah: Can we move on from this sappy shit so I can open my gift.
Everybody: JONAH.
*After everybody opens their presents*
Y/n: Thank you so much for accepting me on such short notice.
Jeff’s mom: Hun we’re family now. You’ll always be a part of us. Same for the Antonyans. We know how much Jeff misses having us around since he’s been living in LA and y’all have been a family to him.
Jonah’s mom: I love Jeff like he my own son. He help us so much.
Jeff’s Dad: Y’all just have to make sure to visit us often. Get’s kind of lonely here w/ Karyn living in Kentucky, Jeff living in LA. I mean Steven lives in the city w/ his kids but we miss having all of you together here.
Jeff: I’m starting to think that having girls runs in the family. Karyn has a daughter, Steven has twin girls and now I’m gonna have twin girls.
Jeff’s mom: I mean you never know if the nurse made a mistake. They thought your brother was a girl for half my pregnancy. Then they did the last ultrasound a week before I gave birth to him and they said he was a boy.
Y/n: Oh god I don’t even want to think about that. I’m already stressed out about the babies possibly being deaf now I gotta be worried if the nurse misgendered them….
Karyn: The babies are gonna be deaf?
Y/n: Hmm?
Jeff’s dad: You just said there’s a possibility the twins will be born deaf.
Y/n: Fuck. I did say that, didn't I… Jeff, you wanna help me out here?
Jeff: Ummm. Damn we weren’t planning on telling anybody this for a couple of weeks. We got a call a couple of days ago after we did some genetic testing and the doctor said the babies have a high chance of being born hard of hearing/ deaf.
Karyn: My doctors told me the same thing. Luckily my daughter turned out fine
Steven: I wasn’t a carrier for the gene…
Jeff’s mom: We’ll love those babies no matter what. If we have to learn sign language for them, then we’d do it. I’ll fly out to LA once it gets close to the due date to help out.
Jeff: Thanks ma. Means a lot.
Y/n: Thank you so much. I don’t know if my own parents would forgive me by then to be there for the birth.
Jeff’s mom: Anytime sweetheart. My god look at the time, It’s 10:15, we have to go to bed before Santa comes.
Jonah: Haha, but santa isn-
Jeff: Jonah you better better not finish that sentence cause my nieces are here and I don’t wanna see the magic ruined for them.
Jonah: What I was saying was, isn't Santa a little late?… He should’ve been here by now…
Going to bed
Y/n: I am so stuffed. Christmas turned out a lot better than I thought.
Jeff: See, you had nothing to be afraid about. Also, good job on keeping the deaf thing a secret haha.
Y/n: Hey! It’s been on my mind since we found out. WAIT. Jonah and Suzie.
Jeff: What about them?
Y/n: they were there…. What if they tell everybody else.
Jeff: Suzie would never… Jonah on the other hand… I have little faith in him.
Y/n: I’m afraid to check my phone.
Jeff: Same. I haven't looked at it all day. On the count of 3…
Y/n: One….
Jeff: Two.
Y/n & Jeff: Three. *looks at phones*
Y/n’s phone: 82 text messages & 24 missed calls
Jeff’s phone: 77 text messages & 21 missed calls
Vlog Squad GC
David: Was what Jonah said true?
Natalie: Is it serious?
Jason: Y’all I’m so sorry
Zane: There has to be a way to fix it. My babies will be okay right?
Erin: I’ll postpone my wedding until the babies are okay
Carly: Oh no Carly and Erin jr :(
Corinna: The babies are gonna be deaf?
Mariah: Is it confirmed?
Heath: Have y’all seen other doctors?
Matt: Guys they’re busy. I don’t think we should be spamming them on Christmas.
Toddy: We’ll stop one they answer us!
David: I’ll put in whatever money you need for surgeries or anything.
Jason: Guys stop. They’ll tell us everything once they’re ready.
(end of conversation)
Jeff: I’m gonna kill Jonah.
Y/n: Oh hun, so will I…
The next chapter might take a bit because I’m still thinking what will be in it. You guys can give be suggestions and I can give you credit for it!
Comment if you want to be on the taglist!
Taglist: @elvlogsquad​ @siemprestan​ @zavidzobrik​ @galxydefender​ @iminlovewithenchilidadas​ @ilsolee​ @ranprivate @one-sweet-gubler  @sunwardsss @shamalamashams @michellemxndes
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cutie1365 · 4 years
Text
God i need to fucking rant about this bitch. How do I always get stuck with the shittiest fucking roommates man.
I’m tired of two faced bitches who say one thing to you and turn around and do the complete opposite.
Why can logic and common sense not get through to this bitch????
First her mother destroys my furniture by fucking spray painting it! Spray paint! Without my knowledge or permission! These fucking back woods idiots who wouldn’t know their head from their ass.
They moved all my boxes and furniture without me knowing and left shit everywhere and somehow my shit ended up in their car six hours away and if I wasn’t on my shit they would have stolen it and I would have never gotten it back.
All my furniture was damaged from them throwing it about and leaving it in the hot sun outside. My TV was laying in the yard for an hour unwatched in 100 degree heat. How it wasn’t stolen is beside me.
Then this bitch thinks it’s smart to have a 145lb dog and leave us to watch it while she works 12 hour shifts. We’re not ur fucking babysitter.
And when we tell her it’s not our responsibility to watch her dog SHE HAS THE AUDACITY TO YELL AT ME. Talking bout how we knew she had a dog. Yeah bitch YOU have a dog, not me. Not my other roommates. Your fucking dog. Not our job to babysit and let it out to piss and see what’s wrong when she’s crying locked in her shoe box room.
She agreed to wipe the dogs paws when she brings her in from outside so we don’t track the dirt into the house. Before we moved in we discussed this. She said YEAH NO PROBLEM. Then when she never once did it- we said what happened to that huh we talked about that. She says “Why would I do that? It’s a dog we’re gonna get dirt inside”. Bitch I know you live in a fucking pigsty in the middle of butt fuck no where but here we don’t want to be stepping in mug and grass in our fucking living room.
She said she’d sweep up after the dog a few times a week because she SHEDSSS like crazy. Yeah she’s never once swept and when we brought that up she says “we’re not gonna have a spotless house what do u expect”. Bitch the other three of us are cleaning up after ur ass all the time. You may be used to living in filth because you’ve never cleaned anything a day in your life, but we like to not collect a pile of dog hair on our feet just from walking from one end of the living room to the other.
So she yells, and I don’t take shit so I yell back. Bottom line, take care of your own dog we’re not doing it for you.
She’s also killing the poor dog. She’s locked up without peeing for 12 hours a day, gets no exercise. She never talks her. Then when she comes home she lets her out then goes into her room and falls asleep so the dog basically is in the tiny room 24 hours a day with no exercise. She’s a fucking Great Dane. The room is so small she can only lay on the bed all day.
And she feeds her 20 count Chickfila Chicken nuggets. That’s so bad! And this is a regular thing. Not like a treat every once and a while. Human food all the time. The dog won’t eat her dry food anymore. She’ll just dump whatever’s in the fridge into the bowl. I once saw her feed the dog tortilla soup. TORTILLA SOUP.
Here’s the fucking kicker- SHES TRYING TO BE A VET. This woman is killing her own dog and she thinks she can go take care of others.
She also has the vocabulary and reading comprehension skills of a 2nd grader and you think you can survive higher education. She thinks she’s fucking god and shits on people in liberal arts colleges or other degrees besides hers, yet she can’t write a two page paper.
She needs to realize she has 3 other roommates. We talked about keeping the common space free of clutter and personal items so that everyone can use it and it stays clean. She agreed. Then she put a huge fucking dog bed in the living room after we explicitly said were putting a big plant here. (The dog has never sat in it because it’s locked in the room all day). And so when my roommates propose a compromise of leaving the bed in her room and taking it out when she’s sitting out in the living room she said “no, I’m not budging). You fucking cunt. She’s doing it just to pisss me off I swear. It has never been used, it is a waste of space, we are putting something else in that spot, it’s ugly, and it SMELLS.
HER WHOLE ROOM SMELLS SO BAD THAT IT LINGERS INTO HALF THE LIVING ROOM. And her room is right by the front door so it hits u right when u walk in. I swear I think that dogs peeing in her room. You’d think someone died in there.
The dog vomits and has diarrhea alll the time cuz she feeds her shit. That poor dog is gonna die because she’s neglecting her.
AND THEN
AND THEN
The day after this conversation of “you haven’t followed thru on any of the things we agreed on before and the dog is ur responsibility not ours, we’re not taking care of it for you”.... SHE BLOCKS ME ON TWITTER.
My other roommate wakes me up to show me she turned her twitter private and kicked me off then posted some big rant and said “Friendly reminder that NO ONE has the right to not treat you with kindness. You are loved, appreciated, and deserve to be here as much as anyone else. In the midst of this pandemic, cut out those who provide anything other than support and positive energy”.
What fucking baffles me is that my other two roommates were by my side and we all said the same thing so why she’s singling me out is beside me. And how can us saying “we’re worried for the health of ur pet because she’s locking in a room all day and needs to pee” is negative energy. Kill ur fucking dog for all we care then bitch, we brought up our concern now it’s on you.
It’s been a fucking month. This is going to be the longest 12 month lease of my life.
And she’s one of those people who has family money then turns around and says she’s poor and her family’s poor and she had to help buy them groceries this summer. Then turn around and buy a $2,000 ring for fun. She has small town money where they have those ugly checkered Louis vutton bags and she wants gucci boots, but then she’s like idk I don’t have money for groceries I can’t contribute.
And I know in the end everything will work out. Because she’ll go right back to living in that small as town and never leave. But dear lord please don’t let her be a vet. Spare those poor animals. It’s not their fault she’s a brainless fuckup.
And like if she was just dumb, fine. She can’t help that. But then she wants to turn it around and act like she’s a fucking genius and everyone is below her.
AND I FOUND OUT SHE VOTED FOR TRUMPPPPP.
Kill me. Just kill me.
I guess I’ll update y’all cuz I’m sure she’ll do more dumb shit soon and I need to rant because it physically PAINS me how angry I get. Like a knot in my chest how she can’t see logic or common sense.
OO and after her mom painted my furniture... because they had damaged it and instead of telling me and offering to help fix it. They took it out of my room and spray painted it (the wrong color and just let it drip if anyone knows how to properly use spray paint). So I told her hey just letting u know that really upset me, I know it was ur mom and not you and you probably didn’t know it happened, but I’m mad and it will take me a few days to get over it. Just so she’s not like Oo why is she mad at me why’s she not talking to me. And she was like I completely understand my mom feels really bad I’m so sorry I didn’t know she did that. Ok we’re all good go about our days.
THEN I find out from my other roommate that she had talked to her and was like Idk why she’s mad, I’m mad that she’s mad. BITCH. What if I took ur furniture out of ur room and decided to spray paint some random lines on it in a different color. I had to sand and repaint it (with fucking paint not spray paint because why the fuck would u do that).
I’m bout to catch a charge lol I get so headed just remembering it.
So yeah if y’all wanna give me some validation that I’m not crazy and this isn’t normal behavior please do, I’m spiraling.
This was a long ass rant but this is my life.
Any witches out there wanna manifest her coming to her senses or moving out and still paying her rent lol that would be great.
Karma honey, nows ur time to shine. Take care of it
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brideofcthulhu10 · 4 years
Text
The Lost Boys Find Out Their Fem!S/O is Pregnant [4/4]
SUBJECT WARNING: PHYSICAL AGRESSION, SEXUAL THEMES AND A WHOLE LOT OF SWEARING. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!
Alrighty then, my lovely fang babes! Here we are, we have the last of the first edition of the pregnancy saga! Worry not, dearest readers, for there is hope! I plan on doing a separate series about going through the pregnancy, and maybe even going through the childbirth with how the boys are as new dads. Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more, and by tomorrow night we'll have a whole new set to love!
It was such a blast writing Paul's, I'm not gonna lie I got lost in the magic! We have a cute little character cameo for all you 80s movie nerds, lemme know if you can figure out what it is! So, without any more delays; here he is. The gorgeous, the goofy, the one, the only:
PAUL
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Today had been an unexpected challenge. You barely got through your shift at the record store, every time you were in light it made you dizzy. Hangovers had nothing on this! Did you drink too much the night before? No, now that you thought about it any attempts to drink had you hugging a toilet. Not to mention your period was late as hell! Well, not the cramps, go figure. Just no blood. None at all. 
You never let on to your beau, Paul, though. The party boy vampire would become overly worried if you told him you were sick, and you weren't about to spoil a good time with a bit of nausea. So here you were, stumbling about the day into the late afternoon absolutely miserable. Your manager Iona offered you some crackers and ginger ale during your lunch break. No dice, within an hour you were running to the bathroom again. 
"Gosh hon, I dunno what ta tell ya. Maybe you ate something nasty, I told you that boardwalk food was fishy," Iona sighed, poking at her own lunch with a fork. Currently your coworker Andie was watching the front until you were feeling better.
"Kill me now, Iona," you groaned, chin resting on the table with your arms laid over your head. Then there was a smell. The greatest, most flavorful, mouthwatering scent you've ever experienced. Like a honey baked ham and a New York sirloin had a glorious new baby drizzled in ecstasy. Glancing over, your stomach growled at whatever it could be. If this were a cartoon you'd be flying to what it was.
Oddly enough, it was coming from Iona. Well, whatever black stuff was in her little plastic tupperware dish. Who cares what it was, it smelled incredible.
"Hey uh..," you asked, leaning over towards the sticky, mysterious delicacy calling your name. "You wouldn't mind if I had a bite, would ya?"
"You sure, hon? This isn't exactly your average dish, it's kinda weird," she tried to explain. God you couldn't take your eyes off it! Finally, your merciful manager pushed it your way, and you couldn't resist any longer. 
"I don't even care, this is the first thing in the past two days that hasn't made me nauseous," you muffled between cosmic bites.
Oh shit, this was heaven! It had to be some sort of meat, it reminded her of a nice spicy kielbasa, a slow roasted brisket, every second it changed to some new world of food you had never tried. What it was didn't matter by this point.
"Wooow. I've never met someone who liked black pudding that much."
Pudding? "I thought it was meat or something? It doesn't taste anything like pudding," you insisted, polishing off the very last specs of it. "Got any more?"
"No, no, not like chocolate pudding or stuff like that, kiddo. black pudding. It's this dish from the UK my new boyfriend made me. It's congealed pig's and cow blood mixed with spices."
You made a face. Blood? Like, blood blood? The cow equivalent of what Paul drank on a daily basis? Yet this was the first time you didn't puke, in fact, you kinda wanted more. Even knowing what is was made of.. for some reason you craved more. Meanwhile Iona continued to talk on and on, until one phrase caught your ears. "Yea, ya know my mom was so into for the longest time. Said she craved it her whole pregnancy, I never got a taste for it honestly."
A single thought popped into your head. A dangerous, foreboding thought that your intuition said was very much a possibility. In a flash you jumped up, nearly slamming your hands on the table. "I gotta go. Oh shit, I gotta go! I'll be right back, I swear, I'm so sorry, I swear to god I'll be right back," you shouted as you bolted out of the store.
"Wait what-?!"
You'd make it up to her once you got back. You had to know! You had to be sure..! Please just let it be paranoia! Please let it be anything, anything at all besides what you thought it was!
Once you reached the nearest CVS you made a B-line to the women's health section. Your hair clung to your face, your lungs stung like crazy but all you could think about was getting answers. And cue the disapproving glare of some old bat picking out a box of pads. Alright being 17 in front of the pregnancy tests looked bad. You weren't just a high schooler, you looked it too. "What're you looking at, " you snarl. Immediately she clutched her pearls, startled by this abrasive youngin' in no mood for dirty looks. God why'd there have to be so many options? Pink boxes, purple ones, bright yellow insisting it worked the fastest. The heavy fluorescent lights were no help at all, it made your head spin. You had no time for this crap. In a sweeping motion you grabbed three different brands and threw them into your basket, all you needed was….where was your wallet? Shit... Glancing around you checked for any nearby cameras or staff. Karma be damned, it was an emergency! Five finger discount it was. 
Once again you made a mad dash back to the record store as the sun finally set. All three boxes were crumpled in your hand, your boots running so fast it you hit a rock that'd be it.
But getting back to the record store was your best bet. You weren't about to pee in some dirty, old, nasty pharmacy bathroo- oh fuck. There was something that finally slowed your steps, nearly making you trip in the process. Four bikes parked right outside. Three of which were occupied by by Dwayne, David and Marko all talking amongst themselves.
Shiiiit, shit, shit! All you could do was swear repeatedly. Before they could spot you, you practically dove into the alleyway behind the store, rapidly disabling the alarm. If that went off it'd be a dead giveaway. Quickly you looked left and right before you slammed the door shut behind you still trying to catch air.
But there, right past the door to the employees lounge, over by the counter you could see a mass of blonde hair chatting away with Iona about Led Zeppelin's best album to date. Paul, gorgeous as every, laughing. It made your heart flutter, but then it sank. What if it was a-... He was never the type to run away from a challenge. But then again, a kid wasn't a challenge, it was a massive ordeal. It would take a huge chunk of his life- well, afterlife! Boozing and cruising would be switched out with drowsy days and busy nights. You weren't sure if you wanted him to know if you were, it would take all that from him. Unfortunately, he must've smelled you or sonething, because immediately he turned around like a puppy being called.
"Babe," he cheered with delight, rushing over to hug you. Rather squeeze you by your hips and lift you four feet off the ground. Quickly you stuffed the skinny boxes into your back pocket, now smushed up against his chest. "Where were you? Ion's said you just bolted mid-shift, we were worried sick! Well, I mean, I was more worried though, cuz I can't stand you bein' gone, kitten."
"Well, yeah uh, I forgot something I had to get at the store, and I forgot what time I got off," you hesitated, still antsy to escape to the bathroom. Truthfully you didn't actually want to, you had to! If you could, you'd just kiss him and ride off into the night to raise some hell like you always did. But this was too big to ignore.
Paul raised a brow. You weren't known for being this jumpy. You wouldn't look him in the eyes, they just kept darting towards the bathroom. Boy, you really did look sick, though. Pale, almost greenish with dark circles under your eyes. You even felt colder than usual. "Am I uh, interrupting something, babe?"
You managed to work out if his arms, giggling nervously. "Actually I-I had some of Iona's lunch earlier, and I just, gotta- be right back!"
With that, you bolted into the bathroom and slammed the door behind you. Again, weird. Paul just shrugged, maybe you had some bad Mexican.
 Iona wasn't convinced. Little miss jumpy-pants skipping out on her, you owed her an explanation. While Paul perused the albums she sunk over to the bathroom, rapidly tapping on the door. "Y/N! Psst! You good in there, hon?"
You were most certainly NOT good! Your hand shook, the third test finally finished. Not like it mattered! They all said the same thing. Every fucking one of them.
Positive. Positive. Positive.
No, no, no!
"Shit," you hissed. "Shit! Oh shit, oh fuck! Fuck-fuckity shit fuck fuck! Dammit." That's all you could do! You swore over, and over, and over, rapidly kicking the wall in front of you. Stupid pink plus! Why? Why did it have to be a plus?? Immediately you threw it in the trash and scooped up the other two. Maybe they were all flukes? Maybe only a doctor could tell you! You had to get home. Like now. Right now, you just had to rush home, make an appointment at the doctors, maybe hide in shame for a few days just until you could figure out what the hell to do with all this! Once again you wedged the tests in your back pocket and nearly tripped, cracking open the door to face your boss. "Iona, I gotta get home."
"Seriously, Y/N?? Why? What is with you?"
"Please, I swear I will make it up to you, I'll take a double shift, I'll wash your damn car-"
"Oh no, nuh-uh. Not until you tell me why you're being such a spaz," she practically shouted in a hissing whisper, absolutely exasperated. You teens and your drama, when she always said she wanted to fell young again this is NOT what she meant!  
"Listen i-... iyay amyay egnantpray," you whispered. Pig latin. It was a little code you two usually reserved for secrets. Well, that and talking smack about snotty customers. But wow was this a big ol' secret. 
Iona covered her mouth. Oh, you little idiot! You poor little idiot. Looking over at the unsuspecting boyfriend she sighed, looking you in the eyes. She wanted to just tell you to come clean to your man. The boy hung around you constantly, you two were the ultimate it-couple, there wasn't even sparks it was like watching supernovas. Something this big.. it shouldn't be left in the dark!
But that pitiful expression on your face just begged her to keep quiet, and frankly it wasn't her place to tell you what to do- well, at least in this regard. "Alright, alright. This saturday you're taking my night time shift, there's a big concert I wanna go to. And you gotta wax my car, it's gettin' nasty. And you better write the best damn apology note in the history of apology notes, sweetie. This is huge, you better come clean to him eventually, or I'll kick your little butt you hear me?"
"Yes. Absolutely, fine, deal. Just please, please keep him busy, I'm not ready to tell him," you whined, clutching the door. Frankly it sounded like a piss poor plan, but it couldn't be helped, not right now at least. You didn't have the strength to confront the situation head on, you were barely keeping it together. You wanted to cry all over, jump into his arms and come clean now, but this was neither the time or place.
As soon as Iona went to go over to Paul you stuffed the tests into your purse and bolted out the back door, only this time stealth was not on your side. Right at the mouth of the alleyway, just as you were about to be home free- you ran smack dab into a particularly lithe blonde that felt like a brick wall. You went flying onto the ground, your purse crashing onto concrete with a hundred pieces of your privacy going every direction. In a panic you began to rapidly stuff it all back, barely able to hide the first two tests as you threw some half baked apology Marko's way. Honestly he deserved a better one than that, but you were too frazzled to be fair at the moment.
"Oh shit, Y/N," Marko exclaimed, immediately kneeling down to help you gather the scattered remains of your purse. "Sorry, I didn't even see you, I was coming back for a smoke. Big Ed is such a douche, can you believe theres no smoking on the-..." His words trailed off, and you shortly saw why. Grasped between his pointer finger and thumb was the little pink strip, and a look of complete disbelief. All you could do was snatch it from him, a heavy moment of silence magically muffling the wild noise and shouts of the busy boardwalk. 
"Do...D-Don't worry about it. Look, I gotta get home, I'll see you arou-," you started, trying to jump up, maybe catch him off guard and make a run for it. Not this time. 
You hadn't even noticed he grabbed your wrist, it was such a blur. He stayed silent, standing up and looking right into your eyes with hidden malcontent. You swore if you answered wrong this mischievous cat would tear your throat out. After all, you were his best friend's girl. If you did anything, ANYTHING, to hurt him... Well, let's just say a pregnancy would be the least of your worries. "Why are you running, Y/N? What the hell is this thing," he asked quietly, eyes flickering between red and blue. "Did you…?"
"Oh don't fuckin' even," You snapped, smacking his arm, yanking your hand out of his grasp. "Of course not! You butt! God, are you serious? What do you take me for- No! I- fuck I just- no!" You kick the tin trash can beside you, watching a plethora of trash fly into the air. "I am freaking out! Of course it's Paul's. Oh fucking god, it's Paul's and I don't know what to do!"
Marko's expression softened, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Hey, I didn't mean to make it sound like that, Y/N. Paul's my friend, I just had to be sure you weren't sneaking around, you know?"
You sighed, pushing back your mess of a hair with misty eyes. This was perfect, a real big screw up from start to finish. All you could do was look over at Marko with pleading eyes. "You can't tell him yet. Please, just please please PLEASE, Marko, don't tell Paul yet!"
"Tell me what, babe?"
Shit. Shit on a stick. You looked behind to see Paul halfway out the back door with a look of concern, one that he rarely carried. You and your dumb mouth, go figure.
The blonde pushed through and let the door close behind him, looking over at his best bud standing alone with his girlfriend who was begging him to keep something secret, from him no less.
 "Marko?"
"Nah, nah, don't look at me man, this is all on you guys," he sighed, hands up in a shielding motion. "Good luck buddy. Gotta go, Y/N." with that the young vampire excused himself from this melting pot of drama, hands stuffed in his pockets. 
You just stood there, keeping the little strip tightly grasped behind your back. Paul was silent, but glancing at his hands you saw they were balled so tight his knuckles were white. "P-paul…," you hesitated, biting down on your bottom lip. "I should really… get home.."
Paul only raised a brow, glancing at your arms still tucked behind you. This wasn't like you to hide from him, and that alone frightened him. Nothing had ever frightened him before. And he didn't like the taste of it one bit. "What's behind your back, babe?"
"What?"
Again his spoke, this time his voice lowered into a low growl. "What... do you have... behind your back, babe?" The way he said it was so firm, it made you shake a little. You didn't like stern Paul. They way he hissed the word "babe", practically spoken through clenched teeth
Your throat ached, eyes darting across the ground struggling to think up a good excuse. Anything. A book, your purse, a surprise for him! Anything!
"N-nothing." Apparently, you failed to find any excuses. Great.
Paul's knuckles began to crack, jumping forward to try and snatch it from behind you. When you dodged him, he grew even more furious. You both began to struggle, pushing him away, insisting he just stop and let you leave. But every attempt to reject him only upset him further. Why were you hiding things from him?! How could you just ditch him at the record store when he was worried sick about you??
The struggle built up until finally he had enough. His eyes turned white with rings of fire, brow looming heavily over his eyes and fangs jutting out where his incisors once were. In a flash he grabbed you by you wrists, pinning you so hard to the wall it shook. You still tried to struggle. Thrash, kick, squirm! Steel wished it could be so strong, your muscles ached. This probably wasn't even his full strength, but it dwarfed you in comparison. This terrifying side of Paul you had certainly seen before, but never had you been on the receiving end. It was in all sense of the word, predatorial. He'd never try to kill you, but you still felt that horror build up inside. Rapid, sharp breaths made your chest heave, too afraid to look up at those red eyes still fixated on whatever you kept hidden from him. He continued to pry your stubborn fingers open, ignoring your shaking whimpers. He squoze your wrist, the tendons aching and contracting until your fingertips began to lift up. Any resistance was pretty much useless at this point, but dammit you still tried everything to worm out of his grip. But he had finally had it, you weren't gonna be keeping secrets from him. Now your last finger was pushed off, and he could see what was so damn important that you physically fought him to keep it secret. It was almost slow motion the way the strip spun to the ground, clattering down and landing beside his mud caked boots. He froze, slowly looking down at it. That's it? That's all you-...
You could barely read his face, so many different emotions flashing across it all at once. Occasionally he'd look back up at you, then back down at it. To the point you almost got annoyed that you were still being stuck to a wall while the reality set in. After all, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know what that was, just put you down already!
Paul looked at you still pinned beneath him, horrified at how he lost his temper and immediately released you. Still rubbing away the pain across your wrists, you watched him pick it up. A wave of guilt swarmed your body, you didn't know whether to hug him or punt him in the chest.
Hell, a massive tidal wave of guilt overflowed him too. It'd been such a long time since he got that angry.. but worst of all he'd never been like that with you. Never grabbed you so forcefully and ignored your pleas, it was a dark side of him he never wanted to display in front of you. Glancing at the little pink plus at the end of the stick, his mind swirled with a plethora of questions. But slowly he stood up, looking down at you still really trying to process everything that had happened in the past few minutes. "I don't… I don't understand.."
"You- You are such an ass," you shouted out of nowhere, enough that it made him jump. There you were. That's the fiery girl he knew, not the one he exactly wanted to be on the opposing side of at the moment, though.
Paul wasn't surprised you were pissed, but he definitely didn't expect you to start punching his arm. Again. Then again, and again you just kept hiting his arms, his chest, pushing and crying, you were so mad you wanted to chuck him in the ocean! It didn't really hurt that much, but he felt awful he drove you to that point.
Tears blurred your vision as you lashed out on him. All you could do was yell names between sobs, even whack him with your purse. "Paul, you absolute jerk! Butt! Jackass! You smarmy, half wit, blood-sucking tool! You said you were packing blanks, you absolute liar! I was gonna tell yo-! I mean, I know I shouldn't have run-! But you just couldn't wait- and then Marko- and you! You ! Jerk ! Butthead !"
"Hey, ow! Ow! Ow, dammit! I know, I know I went to far-ow not the hair dammit," he demanded, grabbing your arms before you could lay another mighty blow. "Babe! Babe, stop! I thought I was! I swear I didn't know- I-..I never thought that I could get you...." His hands slowly released your shoulders, moving to your hips. "I'm so sorry, baby. I swear, I didn't know.. I'm so sorry."
The way his voice softened only made you want to cry more. This whole day was a mess. You didn't mean to try and run.. You never should've tried to in the first place. God, you were so tired. All this running around, all this secrecy, the fighting, it was exhausting. Paul was the last person you wanted to fight. Sure you had spats and a few heated arguments. Every couple did, even vampires. But this, it was just so.m draining. With a firm thud you plopped your forehead on his sternum, your fingers tightly clinging to the upper sleeves of his jacket. "Wh-what am I supposed to do-… what are we supposed to do now..?"
Paul pondered his options with a solemn face, but there was only one that made him happy. Only one that sat right in his heart. What else could he possibly do, there was only ever going to be one answer even if you told him right away. Most of all, he couldn't stand the sorrow in your eyes. A frown never suited such a beautiful face. He never expected there to be anything to come from your heavy sexcapades, it never seemed like there was any risks in it. He'd never seen a vampire munchkin, least of all he'd never even heard of a vamp conceiving with a human. All he knew now is you, crying in his arms, terrified of what you were carrying. What it could mean. In that moment, he steeled his resolve and came to a final decision.
Silently he tilted your chin up, using his thumb to brush away all those tears staining your cheeks. Those blue eyes, you could get lost in them. Swallowed up by the sea. It wasn't hard to read his mind when he held onto your hip with one hand, while the other that pushed away salty droplets now cupped your cheek. Within moments you crashed your mouth into his, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck.
Warm. A surge of heat filled your body. It was the first time you felt truly alive all day. You could feel your chest heave against his, you didn't want any space between the two of you and only pressed tighter until there wasn't anything left. Each kiss gave momentary breath before you dove in for more. Neither of you could stop. You didn't want to pull away, not even for a split second. The way he smelled, the way he tasted, the way he touched you, the way he felt beneath your fingers; it made your head spin. His hands began to wander, you clutched at anything you could get a hold of. Your body burned, so sweet and long. In those moments the world stopped, it just melted away in streams of light. No one was there but you two. 
It was over too soon, both of you rapidly panting for breath still intertwined. Oh, how you could stare into his eyes forever.
That frown was long gone, replaced by a tender smile. The one he had come to cherish. Paul chuckled softly, breathlessly nuzzling against your collar bone. Slowly he leaned in close to your ear, his disheveled blonde hair brushing up against your cheeks. Lips trailed up flesh, reavhing just beneath your ear. And then you heard those three forbidden words. Such sweet, tender words, you hadn't expected him to say. Although he whispered them so softly they might have gotten lost in the wind, to you they were as clear as the moon on a cloudless night.
"Y/N.... I love you."
It made your heart throb, you thought you might even faint. A lifetime of struggles led up to this beautiful moment. You never expected it to be a half-undressed heavy make out session with your vampire lover, the father of your unborn spawn, in the back alley of a record store on the Santa Carla Boardwalk. But here you were, nestled between him and an old brick wall. Paul loved you, he had said it, he finally said those words that could destroy any doubt you had. And more than anything in the whole wide world, you knew once and for all, you loved Paul.
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mytwistedhome · 4 years
Text
Diasomnia members when they find out you have Anorexia
Trigger warning to anyone who suffers with an eating disorder!!
It’s one of those nights again... Writing these headcanons to give myself some solace. 
I hope this can maybe bring comfort to someone else, or at least provide some bit of entertainment. My intention is not to cause harm or trigger anyone. That is the last thing I want.
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This time, these headcanons are for Diasomnia members. I’ve already posted ones for Pomefiore and Ignihyde (of which you can see on my blog, if you desire), and the other dorms will likely be posted the next time I need some self cheer-up.
I swear I’ll have some proper writings up tomorrow, and even more by the end of the week. And, I intend to keep my promises this time. Sorry, I’m really not much of an angel if I’m being honest. I sincerely apologize to the friends and the requesters of whom I’ve neglected. You don’t deserve to wait and wait just to see me break a promise and go back on my word. That’s entirely my fault, and with my whole heart, I am sorry.
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💚
Malleus Draconia
So this is how humans hate themselves? How horrifically graceful...
Not gonna lie, he romanticizes the idea quite a bit at first
He watches with a morbid curiosity as you quickly grow thinner and thinner day after day, and how you stumble around weakly in a constant dizzy state
He finds it fascinating how a weak human can withstand such torture brought onto them by themselves
It really is odd, isn’t it?
You, a human, already bound to die after several years of life, are hurting yourself even further
You are so delicate... He's really enthralled. It's so strange how you hurt yourself in a sickly yet gracious way, and he cannot help but watch from afar
But, he knows that he cannot simply watch you forever as you kill yourself
He sees how much you are hurting and suffering, and he grows incredibly sad for you
You don't deserve to go through such pain. What ever made you decide to do this?
He can't possibly imagine what it must be like, and he becomes mournful over you
And he's now determined to bring you help, some way, somehow...
He tries to confront you about it. On those nights when the two if you run into each other outside the Ramshackle dorm, he'll make vague, elusive references to your starving yourself
The way he goes about it is oddly beautiful. He says things like "it's been several days since we've talked like this. You've grown thinner from before," and "it's often lonely and empty, the day's without you, much like how your stomach goes empty," or "you always seemed mesmerized by my abilities, particularly when I vanish from your eyes, but isn't it the same when you float through life in a dazed state of mind? From that dizziness brought on by hunger?"
And you're left with your mouth wide open, absolutely stunned. He knows. Somehow, he knows
But you still play dumb, wondering what in earth he means, knowing all too well what it is he means...
Malleus sighs sadly. The look on his face is incredibly hopeless and pitiful (and for a moment, you feel guilty for having brought him to such an emotion) before he crossed his arms and his look turns dour. He's done dancing around this topic
He's very straightforward now, telling you sternly that you need to stop this. Stop hurting yourself, stop killing yourself
He tries not to let his own feelings show, but his jaw softens and his lower lip trembles every now and then
You become overwhelmed with sadness, guilt, and self-hatred. Those are the exact emotions that Malleus was trying not to stir, but you just can't help it as he scolds you so seriously. Just how long had he known? How long had he been watching and worrying over you?
When he's done speaking, you let out a wretched gasp as you clutch your chest, your heart palpitating from the overflow of emotions, and the hunger, and the sudden movement
Malleus reaches out to you, his hands clutching your arms and steadying you on your feet as your knees buckle
He stares at you wide-eyed in shock, unable to say another word. He knows that you are weak and your health is poor, but what caused you to react in such a way just now?
Your stomach feels as if it's caving inwards, and a coldness spreads throughtout your body
Tears begin to well up in your eyes. You know that Malleus is worried for you, and you didn't mean to make him worry, but you really just wish he didn't know... That this could still just be your secret and you would get help on your own when you're ready
Oh, god... this didn't help. Somehow, this whole confrontation triggered you. Now you just want to starve yourself even more, continuing this way forever
But Malleus won't let that happen, even if it hurts you (as in, emotionally) to stop. Continuing this way would break his heart
Lilia Vanrouge
Lilia’s been around. He knows how serious eating disorders can get. I’m sure he’s seen other who have suffered or even died from it.
Actually, he was the one who suspected that you had anorexia
He noticed how you would pick apart your food before eating, how you chew so slowly, and how you are always eager to leave the meal table
Not to mention how you almost cower away in fear when certain foods are offered to you
Also not to mention how you gaze longingly at other people's plates
To him, it's obvious because he can pick up on all the subtle signs.
Confronting you is a bit tricky... He really doesn't know how to approach you about it in a way that will make you open up
When he's around you, he'll begin to ask you questions in concern
He'll often ask you if you're okay, if you're feeling alright, etc. You always lie
He knows you're lying, but he won't mention it. He'll just continue to ask if you're doing okay with sincerity every time he's around you
Eventually, you begin to realize that he is someone who might very genuinely care about you, and you are very touched by his concern. No one has ever been so worried about you before
One day, when the two of you are alone, you say something like "I'm actually not okay..."
And then you vent to him for a very long time
You even start to cry
He keeps silent through your venting, but he listens intently to every word you have to say
When you're done, he gives you a sad smile and tries his best to console you
He lets you know that you can reach out to him anytime you need
Overtime, he convinces you to seek help and receive actual treatment and recovery
Probably the most successful of all the guys in putting you on the road to recovery!
Silver
He is very taken aback
Truly, he doesn't know what to say or what to do
He immediately feels so, so bad for you... His heart mourns for all the suffering you must have been going through
He tries to be sympathetic... He really does
But at the same time, he's a bit worried about getting involved. How are you going to react to his knowing? Will you really take kindly to his concern? Or, will you push him away, as is so common a symptom of this disease?
He subtly watches you as you eat your meals. He's quite good at watching without making it seem so, and he uses this skill to keep an eye on you in concern
He sees how you cut your food into tiny pieces, how you push it around in your dish, hardly ever bringing the fork to your lips...
And his heart breaks. How pitiful it is to see you like this
He wishes he could just reach his arms out and somehow save you, help you... But that wouldn't work, would it? This is a very real problem; he can't just save you in a fanciful way, no matter how badly he wishes
He gathers the courage to approach you about it, just to let you know that he's aware of your struggle and that he's willing to listen if ever you need to talk to someone
He sits down beside you after classes one day as you're doing a bit of studying/reading. You what's you to feel as comfortable as possible, not like he's pushing you to open up if you aren't ready
You smile when you see him come close, happy to have his company
Well, this seems like it's off to a good start!
The two of you exchange a few words of warm conversation, but then a silence falls, and you see Silver's face darken, turning into a sad expression
And, after a bit of hesitation, he tells you that he knows... He knows how you starve yourself, and how you suffer, but assures you that all he wants is to help and be there for you
You are quite stunned, only staring at him blankly, unsure of what to say
It certainly cought you off guard, having him say it just like that...
After a moment, you thank him for his offer and for his concern, and you really do appreciate it
But... You are still very alarmed
You excuse yourself and head back to your firm, trying to take this all in
How long had he known...? You knew he was trustworthy and kind, but you weren't sure if you weren't sure if you wanted to let him in to such a private and major part of your life
From then on, you begin avoiding him, not wanting to let him in. It hurts him to see you hide away from him, but he expected this to happen
But then, one day, you are having it particularly rough, and you feel so miserable... You call Silver, just to hear his voice. Just to have some company. Just to feel like you aren't alone.
And he does everything he can to comfort you, listening intently to all you have to say
He doesn't push you to eat, or urge you to get help, he is just... there. And that is all you could ever ask for
He continues to be the friend of whom you seek out for comfort, and Silver is happy to be there for you whenever you need
Sebek Zigvolt
He finds out after he catches you in his arms upon your fainting
He's used to Silver falling asleep at random, but the way that you wobbled across the room, shuffling your feet and swaying as you tried to walk in a straight line, then spinning as your eyes rolled back, trying to find your balance as you babbled out incoherent sounds before sinking to the ground...
He's certainly not used to that. It terrified him to see you in such a state, and that fear turned into overwhelming worry for your well-being
He had rushed to your side before your head clashed with the hard ground. He wrapped his arms tightly around your shoulders as your head tilted back onto his chest
He gazes at you with absolute panic, his mouth agape and eyes wide with fear
He tries to shake you awake, but your head just bobs and your arms fall limply at your side, your legs having already given out entirely
In panic, he shouts for help while also loudly urging you to get up, wake up, and stand on your own two feet
Luckily, his voice was heard by a couple others (probably just Lilia or another elder student) who come rushing into the room
They see you passed out with your sickly pale and gaunt face, and they advise Sebek to immediately take you to the school's infirmary, to which he promptly obeys and carries you there
He leaves you in the care of the nurses, and the whole time that the two of you are parted, his mind is reeling with worry
He can't bring himself to relax at all. He's all strained and stressed over you! He's unimaginably worried. He really wants you to be alright...
When you finally return to your consciousness, Sebek is one of the first to know, and he immediately rushes to wherever you are, regardless if you're still feeling dreary
He, very loudly, bombards you with questions as he tries to make sure that you are alright
He's still in a bit of a panic... Are you sure that you're okay?
You assure him that you're feeling fine now as you chew and swallow your 180 calorie granola bar
Sebek is relieved, but now he's demanding answers. How did you pass out in such a scary way? What happened then? What's going on with you?
Your head starts to spin once again at his pressing questions. You can't just tell him that you don't eat
Like with Epel, you try to make excuses. First, you try telling him that you were just overheated
Sebek doesn't buy that; he explains to you that you felt cold to the touch and had goosebumps all over your body when he caught you in his arms
You then try to say that you are anemic
That could be true, but now Sebek knows you are lying, and he presses you even further
Tears start to well up in your eyes. You don't want to come forward with this secret!
But he keeps pushing you with his loud voice... You can tell that he cares, and you feel bad for making him worry so much
Maybe you can trust him...
On the condition of him keeping his voice down, you tell him. You tell him that you fainted because you purposefully don't eat enough
He doesn't take it too well... He actually grows angry
How could you do such a thing to yourself???
You beg him to please, please calm down. You try to explain to him that this is something you can't really help...
After you briefly try to explain, his brows furrow together, as if in a glare, but his eyes are so full of sorrow
His chest tightens in pain and pity... Pity and sorrow for you. That's what he feels. And helpless, as well, to your suffering
He pushes you to get help, urging you every single day
He wants to help more. He wants you to just be okay. Why can't you just wake up and not have this problem anymore? Why do you have to be this way?
But he feels like there's nothing else he can do...
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wildflower-alex · 4 years
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The Job (CH) part 3
As a request, there’s the third part and I kinda feel like I should’ve started a mini series, still evaluating the option, though (thanks  @dirty--heart xo)
Note: as many of us do the same, meaning writing about us with other person, you will slowly get to know my personality and behavior. It feels more personal and real if I expose true feelings and traits, knowing I’m not the only one who feels this way, plus it makes more sense to explore a mind-body relation and to actually write about it, rather than keeping a flumsy, incoherent attitude of the characters. 
Still, I’m not the greatest writer because English isn’t my first language and after a pause of maybe 5 years of not writing it’s kinda hard now.
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Part 1 and 2 here and here
She stood up and put the clothes back as a sudden feeling of guilt reached her brain. Her eyes sneaked a peak at his body while he was slowly pulling up his boxers. He truly was a heartthrob, his buff body making him look like a Norse God, way too hot. She felt confused as she realized they had to talk, but about what? Who should say what? What would she answer? And after all, what are they as of now? She unthinkingly sighed at the thought, making him look up at her.
“What?” he asked and she could sense his confusion.
As she realized the gesture, she jokingly said “Nothing” and actually meaning that, because nobody could clear up her min, only her by thinking everything through and analyzing every aspect, gesture, sound and look he threw her. 
He too felt this pressure, of not knowing what to say next. Yet he used his hunger to make a conversation with her.
“Listen, I thought maybe I should... buy you some food?”
“You mean... paying for the services?” she said and instantly regretted it, punishing herself inside her mind for ever saying that.
“God, no! Please, stop being sarcastic... I really meant it... but if you don’t want to...” he replied with a slow sorrow in his tone.
“I’m sorry, I... that’s how I deal with... nevermind, sure, let’s grab something to eat” she said, trying to break the barrier between them. She had enormous anxiety problems and her defense system was sarcasm and expecting the worse, only for her brain to cope with the presumed failure. Continuous traumas reflected on her daily tasks and she was trying to let go of that killing feeling she constantly had and she hardly had a day without feeling so heavy. These thoughts would never leave her mind for the whole day.
“Ok, well... I know a restaurant that has great carbonara I know you’ll love” he replied.
“Oh, wow, I’d love to eat some, they’re my favorite” she smiled at him.
“I know, you’re always talking about it” he chuckled, showing off his puffy cheeks and that bright, warm smile of his.
The ride was short, taking only a few minutes to get to the restaurant. Even so, he tried to talk to her, but they both seemed awkward to actually say something relevant. Instead, he took her hand while driving and placed a kiss on it, making her blush at the new feeling. She took a look at his face, his face turning to look at her too and they both shyly smiled, just like two kids.
“I meant everything I said” his voice broke the silence. She never stopped looking at him, only to lean forward and kiss his hand, too.
Arriving at the restaurant, the scene was pretty poetic. The floors were imitating the Italian pavements, with tall black lamps at every table, green leaf plants covering the walls and giving the place an allure of forest. Only a few tables were taken, people being more engaged in conversations, rather than looking at them. She felt a relief knowing that they actually did not know who he was. Fame was pretty rough and she saw that reflecting on their lives.
After both ordered the food he rested his chin in the fists, making his cheeks to look even fuller than before. 
“So... for how long?” he asked.
She looked confused, but understood his question after one second.
“Let’s say enough time” she replied. The shame she felt that moment could make people deaf if it had a voice. Realizing she could distract the attention from her, he continued.
“I thought you were talking to someone”
“Well” he started and remembered the girl she was talking about. “You know, they’re all the same. I felt she needed validation, maybe even a little fame and I let it dissipate” 
“They all want that now. Hell, everyone wants that from time to time, let’s be real” she said, really meaning it.
“So you’d like to be famous?” he asked.
“Sometimes” she replied and took a sip from the soda the waiter just brought. “And sometimes I want to be invisible and know nothing about anything” she added, making him to raise his eyebrows. “Don’t look at me like that, my minds is complicated”
“I can tell that. So... now what?”
“Now... I don’t know, you name it” she tried to dissimulate, not knowing what to say or to make a fool of herself.
“I mean... we’re working together”
So that was the problem. She instantly took her defensive coat, repelling everything he said.
“I know, that could be a problem. I mean, we can play it cool and pretend”
“Pretend... Yeah, but for how long?”
“I don’t know, until either one of us gets tired of it and I resign” she said.
Her seriousness scared him, what was this all about? He felt attacked and frankly, misunderstood.
“Wait, are we talking about the same thing?” he asked, now his torso stuck to the chair.
“Yeah, it happened once and I’ll try not to make a fuss out of it”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he almost screamed.
“For fuck’s sake, Calum, I know you’re regretting it, don’t continue to shove it in my face, for real”
“The fuck...”
“It’s shameful enough, for real, play it cool” she continued, not paying attention to his expression.
“Are you you serious? Like, dead serious?” he furiously asked, now his arms crossed on his chest.
The music started playing louder and she could hear Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love” play the chorus of it.
“This fucking song” she mumbled under her breath, only to herself, remembering the times she played the song while masturbating with his image in her mind.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing” she replied and slowly made up her response in  her mind. “I know you don’t want anything to do with me, other that doing my job and bursting your ego. I just wish that...” she paused, nodding her head from side to side, a regret showing in her eyes.
“Don’t you fucking dare to finish that” he fumbled. “Babe, what the fuck?” he said, now his voice softer than even and he leaned to take her hands in his.
“Don’t use such words, we’re not babes” she quietly continued.
“Let me get this clear, you don’t want to start... anything? With me, I mean...” 
“I just...”
“Be real. Forget about your mind tricking you. Say it”
She paused, now tears streaming on her face, tears of frustration she couldn’t speak her truth, frustration she couldn’t put words into how she felt, frustration on her anxiety and punishing herself in her mind. She quickly wiped them away, realizing how pathetic she looked.
“Babygirl...” he said. He knew she couldn’t speak and as he looked at her he almost felt angry that such a beautiful soul, inside and out, could have such a defensive system. “Hey” he continued and took her chin between his fingers. “I would like to start something new with you”.
Unfortunately for him, her mind transformed that into a total rejection.
“Love...” he continued and saw she did not change her position, clenched in her chair. He got up and knelt by her side, turning around the chair, so that she could see him. “I promise I’ll be here everytime you’ll need me to speak for you. Please, look at me for a bit”
She finally looked at his eyes, now his tearing up, too.
“I’m sorry I don’t know how to behave around you, I promise I’ll do my best” he continued.
She shyly smiled, stroking his big palms and feeling the weight from her chest being lifted off. “I’m sorry” she finally said.
“Don’t you worry, it’s my fault, too. I know I’m not the greatest talker” he replied.
“I would like it, too” she added, making his form a big smile on his face. They both started giggling, his hands never leaving hers, slowly stroking her knuckles and looking into her eyes.
She was staring at him, seeing a new part of him, one she never encountered before.
“I know it’s already the third, but I also promise there will be less and less days like this. I mean... only the bad part, and more of the previous, you know” he chuckled as she started to laugh loud enough for the people around them to look at them.
“Can you believe we did it in the living room?” he finally chuckled and a burst of laugh left his chest.
She never stopped laughing, but this one made her laugh harder than before.
“I bet...” he started, but his laugh stopped him. “I bet Luke’s gonna be like <<oyy does it smell like dick in here?>> I swear!” he laughed so hard he had to wipe a tear from his eye.
He realized how good of a woman she was, even though she had a lot of work to do regarding her mental health, he understood her and liked her even more. Brains always were his favorite.
Part 1 and 2 here and here
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rjalker · 3 years
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Made with speech-to-text please for the love of fuck forgive typos
We don't have internet again because it costs $45 a month and I swear to god I'm gonna beat the landlord to death.
Internet waa supposed to be part of our rent. He took it away but hasn't decreased the rent. I'm going to fucking kill him. The oven still does not work. It hasn't worked properly for over half a year now. There are giant fucking cracks in the bathroom ceiling thay I had to fuckint duct tape shut thay HE HAS KNOWN ABOUT FOR IVER A YEAR NOW.
My cashapp is $Rjalker a link to my gofundme is in my pinned post. I am autistic and physically disabled and unemployed because of Covid19, and before I was forced to quit for my own physical and mental safety, I spent all of the fucking pandemic up until the end of October on the front lines putting my life on the line well my leg was fucked up and dislocated for literal months straight because I don't have health insurance and can't afford to go to the doctor let alone the emergency room little in the fucking house and that was made worse because I don't have a car so I was biking 6 miles every single day and then standing on my feet on bare concrete for 8 hours straight because Walmart doesn't even give you a floor mat to stand on spending 10 hours a day at work getting screamed at by anti-masker customers and patronized by the covid-denying management and literally told that as an individual as long as I chose to continue working at Walmart, I had no rights as an individual.
They literally told me that because I was an employee, I had no rights. I did not have the right to social distance. I did not have the right to not interact with anti-maskers. I did not have the right to complain or ask that the company protect the lives of its workers and customers.
We did not get Hazard pay. We never got Hazard pay. They did not give us a raise. One time they gave us a single slice of cold pizza that had already been sitting out for 5 hours. One time they gave us a footlong sandwich from Subway that we had to wait in line for for 20 minutes wasting our lunch break to get because they didn't pay us enough for me to even buy lunch everyday.
I applied for unemployment literally the day after I quit. I still haven't gotten anything. And it's set up so that you have to keep applying every two weeks whether or not your you've gotten anything yet or whether or not you've been approved and now without my laptop I can't fucking do that so even if I do get approved they won't fucking send it to me and I hate this fucking country and I fucking hate capitalism I swear to fucking God in the fucking landlord is coming over tomorrow and we don't even know what he's going to do because he didn't fucking tell us so for all I know he's going to fucking bring some potential buyers for the building on a tour through the fucking apartment just glossing over the fact that the oven hasn't fucking worked in over half a year. Just glossing over the fact that all of the paint is peeling off of the walls and we can't even clean the walls with soap and water without the paint coming off on the sponge and the giant fucking cracks in the bathroom ceiling that I had to duct tape shut after we showed it to him and asked him to fix it and he did nothing. He told us that a new oven would be installed and that we had to take literally everything out of the kitchen so that they could do it. So we did. We moved the show that we were using as a pantry into the living room. But the new oven hasn't been installed yet because they can't fucking take out the old one because when it was originally installed they snapped off the fucking switch or whatever the fuck it is that controls the gas so the people from Home Depot couldn't fucking turn off the gas to unplug the old oven. They literally cannot turn off the gas. They have to call a plumber. They were supposed to send a plumber. We haven't heard a single thing. We have no food. Before the oven Brook, I spent an entire paycheck stocking up on frozen food and Pantry meals to make in the oven thinking of yes this is a great plan we will be able to eat. And then the Oven broke. And this is not the kind of food you can just toss in the microwave or make in a skillet. It's raw chicken it's raw foods that must be made in an oven. You can't just make it in a skillet or in the microwave. We bought a bunch of pumpkins to make pumpkin bread and stuff and they're all just sitting on our stairs and the landlord is complaining about them on our stairs the last time he was but we literally cannot fucking you some because you can't fucking make anything with pumpkin if you don't have a fucking working oven. The only thing in the house that we can eat a soup. And there are two cans left. We are already out of canned chicken because I had to give it to her cat because she got sick because their normal brand of dry cat food change the recipe and the cats would literally rather starve than eat it now. So we had to buy another brand of cat food. And it made her sick. She was throwing up. We got her canned food now and she's eating it fine, but we had to give her the canned chicken that we had that was supposed to be for Soups and for fuck's sake I hate this country I fucking hate this country I swear to God
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Jar of Rebuke Episode 1 Unofficial Transcript
Season 1 Episode 1: Pilot
INTRO
The following audio recording is classified documentation for Case [audio distortion] with the Enclosure. Unauthorized access to this information will lead to immediate intervention. Progress further if proper clearance has been given.
JARED
Dr. Daman has suggested that I start an audio journal of some kind, something outside of my therapy sessions to help me track my progress or whatever. Considering I don't have much of anything that's mine anymore, she suggested that this might actually be a good way to reclaim some of my individuality. Maybe talking about what I do know of myself might help me remember more. So I guess I'll start with what I know. My name is Dr. Jared Hel. I'm a field researcher for the Enclosure. I specialize in studying the particularly dangerous creatures around here. For some reason, no matter their effect on others, nothing is permanent on me. Gods, the amount of times I've died this last year is probably more than I should ever care to admit. I guess it's a blessing in disguise though, it's job security, for one thing. A scientist who can't die no matter how dangerous the entity he's studying? I think I'm set. Sure, I may bounce back from death with a few more scars but they're relatively healed up and I'm rarely ever in much pain when I wake up. Though, to be fair, if the Enclosure just left these creatures alone I’m sure this wouldn't even be an issue in the first place, but no... they just gotta meddle.
I started working at the enclosure, what, two years ago? Though I've really only been on the field for less than a year. Apparently, I worked at a different research site for some other organization before that but I don't really remember anything from before two years ago. I supposedly transferred here to research a particularly dangerous subject, the one that... um... well the one that killed my team. And me, I guess. The most frustrating thing is the lack of remembering- I don't remember any of their names, their faces, nothing. I had to relearn absolutely everything and no matter what I relearn I never remember. It's so infuriating knowing that there's a whole childhood and more that I have yet to recollect anything from. I feel so left out of reminiscent conversations, you know? Well of course you know, I'm practically talking to myself here. All I know of myself before the incident is what was on my work file- top of my class graduate from IU, but I don't remember a damn thing about my time there. Apparently there's a lot of fields around there, though I guess that's not too different from the towns around here. Born and raised in those corn fields, according to my records. No documented family to speak of. But from what other folks in the lab have shared about their families- maybe I’m not missing out on too much.
When asked about getting in touch with the folks from the other facility that I worked at they didn't seem to think that it would be too helpful. Hell, how would they even know who to put me in touch with? Wasn't like they would have documented my friends or anything. So again, nothing. Story of my damn life. And of course there's Todd. Oh I’m sorry, Dr Todd Carmen. He's currently head of operations at the enclosure. He's, uh, I'll say he's a character. Not as unique as he thinks he is but certainly not boring, but just because something isn't boring doesn't mean that it's entertaining. He has a fashion sense that I would have never personally considered wearing, but um that shade of orange with his pale complexion? Simply bold choices in my opinion. But I'm sure he'll get himself sorted out someday. Besides all that though I guess it's not too bad. Job security with benefits- apparently a lot of jobs don't offer health insurance. Though with our line of work it's kind of necessary, to keep us alive.
Uh, what else do I know? The Enclosure is an organization based out in the middle of absolute nowhere that researches the various anomalies, but really only bothers with the particularly dangerous ones. Like, really dangerous ones. I mean bigfoot, mothman, that sort of stuff they really just leave to their own devices for the most part. Sure they hurt and even I guess sometimes kill people, but not a lot of people, and enough people already know about those things to not really hide them away now. Wichton is like two hours from any other town. It's guised as a farming town. Uh well no, it is a farming town but the enclosure has taken it as its guise. Most of the facilities are underground, deep underground. They paid off all the townsfolk back when they were building to not ask questions. And considering they built it during a massive economic depression, no one asked questions, the townsfolk took the money. But there's still some circulating rumors about us to this day, of course. As long as we keep the particularly dangerous creepy crawlies underground with us they've got no reason to worry too much. Sure, sometimes things sneak out and make weird noises in the fields at night but country folk are superstitious folk, and if nothing else it's what these people have known all their lives. Suspicious lights, weird noises and mutated deer don't even faze these people. The Enclosure picks its battles when it decides what to tackle, that's for damn sure. Not like they're an international brand or anything, they only have the resources to stick to these neck of the woods, and with all the anomalies in these parts, not really surprised that they settled here. Been here for nearly 100 years and have very little idea why it's such a supernaturally charged area. Some say it might be the fact that folks are so superstitious that it basically invites the energy here. But others think there's a reason, but it ain't my department to figure that out. The hardest part of the job is getting things into the facility. But sometimes the hot shots up top decide to just have us study those things from afar since taking them out of their established locations seems impossible. So many ladies in gray and white dresses all over the place, we can't exactly make a support group for them here or anything! Not when they're out busy haunting dunes or lakes or crying by the side of the road or whatever. Not really hurting anyone all that much, so they've mostly just been left alone. We keep tabs, but we also don't always interfere. Oh and being the sacrificial lamb is a bit annoying, but I bounce back quickly enough. Death has gotten less disorienting over time, but no less annoying.
What did I do today? Well... I had a shorter day, shift-wise, so I went in at like 6 a.m, then got out around one-ish. I was supposed to leave closer to noon but I ended up having to stop at Dr. Rahal’s office for a bit for my headaches. They've been getting worse and we don't really know why. At least they come and go in waves, so I get some peace at times. It's always nice to see Dr. Rahal though, he's been the nicest to me since I started at this place, from what I can remember at least. He's one of the Enclosure physicians who I've been seeing. From anything to work related injuries that aren't too severe to these headaches. I swear I've never met a guy in my life who can smile so genuinely and be so sincerely happy over just about anything. It'd honestly be annoying if it weren't so sincere and if he also weren't so genuinely nice. He's really trying to help with these headaches but medicine doesn't really ever help and the medical scans showed nothing that would indicate any issue. I mean, not that they let me see the medical scans. I guess I wouldn't understand them anyways, even if they did let me.
Dr. Rahal thinks that it's likely stress so that takes us back to therapy with Dr. Daman. Had a session after work, which was when she suggested that I really start this up. She's suggested it before but I kind of dismissed the idea until today. She made a very good point- what's the harm in doing it? I mean, it can't make the headaches worse and even if it doesn't help me remember anything, maybe getting things off my chest could help in some way. Therapy was uneventful, not like much happens in a week, just the usual work stuff mostly. Though I have started going out after work a bit more often, even if it's just to a local shop or to grab a bite to eat. Dr. Daman suggested a few months back that I socialize a bit more, and it's been kind of nice. Weird, but nice. I've mostly stuck to myself outside of work, honestly. Well, besides those community events that you're basically ostracized if you don't attend or you get bombarded with those calls of “where were you last night? We were so worried about you, are you okay?”, even if you don't remember giving them your number. I like to go to a restaurant in town called the Royal Cow, they make the best in-house ice cream. They built it to look like one of those red farm houses which matches most of the buildings in town, but their mint chocolate chip ice cream is basically the best ice cream I've ever had. They also make really, really good sugar cream pie. Get it when it's still fresh, it's a little warm, melts in the mouth. I mean it basically cures any hankering for a sweet tooth. So that's what I ordered- a fresh slice of sugar cream pie. But that was my dessert. They do also have some pretty good not-sweet foods. Their lunch menu is alright but their breakfast food is really where it's at. And they do that breakfast all day thing, so I got their breakfast platter which is really, really good food.
On my way home, I bumped into Darius. He's the son of some local farmers in town. His dads have an apple orchard, on top of everything else. The Enclosure actually keeps tabs on their farm, because no matter what his dad John plants, apples always grow. I mean no matter what John plants. He could plant pumpkin seeds in the fall but no apple trees are gonna spring up and I'll be damned if those aren't the best apples. I mean sometimes crab apples grow instead, he can't really control what kind of apples grow, but John has found a way to make crab apples into really good apple pies and ciders and stuff. I've heard they make good jams and jellies, but he perfected a crab apple pie. He said it's “just a lot of love” but I think there's something with those apple trees. But again, not my department to figure it out. Darius and I made small talk. The weather, mostly. So mostly just complaining about how it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so humid or if we just had a nice breeze, but the shade does help. He always makes excuses to talk to me. I'm not complaining, but that does seem to be a thing around town is everyone makes excuses to talk to everybody. Like the one time that Holly stopped me in the middle of the road to chat when we were passing each other. It's a community norm, I guess, but Darius always wants to talk again. I'm not complaining, he's a really nice conversational partner we can chat about just about anything with certain obvious restrictions. He knows I work at the Enclosure, but folks in town seem to think it's some hoity-toity but shady government job. I don't really think we're tied to the government, per se, but whatever lie they've told the towns is just what I stick with. Whether or not they believe that is entirely another story. He knows I'm a scientist, but he thinks i'm more of an environmental natural scientist instead of a supernatural scientist. I guess whether or not he believes that is an entirely other story too, but we don't really talk about work much. On my end I don't bring it up and while he does talk about working on the family farm from time to time, especially because they expect for him to take over, he tries to find other things to talk about. He's gone back to school recently. They recently in town set up a sort of trade school, I guess, where if anyone's considered a master in town they can teach classes to teach other people in whatever skills they have to share. Seems Darius is taking a bit of a Home Ec class, I guess, sewing and cooking and things like that. He said that he's great with his hands in the field but he really wants to round out his hand skills. He then awkwardly chuckled after that but I don't understand why. I mean it's completely respectable to want to be able to stitch up your own clothes or actually have a nice dinner besides the reheated leftovers left on your doorstep or to know what to do when your microwave catches fire. Honestly, I don't really know what all they teach in those classes. I'd never even heard of something like a Home Ec class until Darius told me about it. I wonder if I ever took one. If i wasn't so busy with work I would actually look into taking classes. I like to learn and Darius even said that he'd be more than happy to help me with anything if I needed it which is nice. But I'm a really fast learner. I actually get bored a lot because of it. I don't see why anyone would need five months or years of training or educating. No, I can see why. I also just know that I am the anomaly. When I forgot everything and had to relearn how to read I was at a 10th grade reading level. By what, just a few weeks? And then I was at college level again in a matter of a month. But even though I was relearning stuff quick I never remembered anything. I never remembered books I've read before the incident, I never remembered learning how to read the first time, I just was quickly relearning how to read. I don't even know if you would consider remembering how to read. I mean I'm never remembering anything. I don't even remember the creature that I was working with in the incident. And no one will tell me anything, because they said they want me to remember organically, or something like that. They said they feared something like a trauma, whiplash? I really don't understand it and it just pisses me off more than anything. But Dr. Daman won't budge. No one will let me look over any files of the incident or files on the other lab techs who died. They slapped this key around my neck and said, “here, to keep your brain in check. Oh, you literally remember nothing? Well tough luck, see this therapist and see what happens!” Ugh. They said if it weren't for my weird powers then the incident would have killed me too. They said they don't know why I have this ability to rebound from death like it nearly never happened but they sure are willing to use my ability for work.
Right, the key. Uh, when I woke up the first thing the doctors did was have me wear it around my neck. It’s on some sort of sturdy red cord. I've never taken the thing off in years. You would think that it may have faded a bit or that the cord would have worn, but no. Cord is still sturdy and the key is just as shiny as the day they gave it to me, which isn't that shiny, it was a bit tarnished already, but hasn't gotten any more tarnished. It's supposed to keep my brain in check after the effects of, well, the incident. Dr. Daman says that if I take it off, I risk unlearning absolutely everything that I've learned in the last two years. I don't know why the key is supposed to be the thing that does this, but this is the only time that death has ever made me lose everything, so I figured what's the harm in wearing it. Not like it hurts to wear or anything.
Darius has asked me about it before though. Not when we first met or anything but after multiple times of running into each other he finally asked. I get asked about it a lot but I just say that it's a familial trinket and they tend to just leave it be. But darius had asked after we'd shared a few drinks at a local bar and even though I have a bit of a high tolerance for alcohol and never stay drunk long, he seemed to ask at just the right moment for me to open up a bit more, I guess. I said it's a comfort item, which I guess isn't exactly the whole truth, I actually honestly hate this thing. A constant reminder of all the things that I've forgotten. But I guess there's slight comfort and knowing that because of this key everything that I've relearned will stick. They say it's important to understand all that you don't know, but I know all too well that I've got at least 20 years of things that I don't remember. But hey, with this key I guess i can rebuild that. I must have seemed uncomfortable about this question where he was satisfied with that answer because Darius let it go after that, but I catch him staring at it sometimes. He's asked what I know about skeleton keys, and all things considered I didn't know much, at least didn't remember. He told me that his dads both told him about the powers that keys hold, not just to lock things but even more importantly to unlock them. That a skeleton key could lock or unlock any door to a given building, no matter what other keys people had, commonly used by cleaners and inn owners and stuff like that. He really seems fixated on the idea and I guess the symbolism is a bit striking with my current situation considering... whatever. The less he knows the better. It would be nice to talk to someone outside of the enclosure about more personal stuff from time to time but I can't go around spilling secrets.
Right, my day. Uh, lunch, talked with Darius, uh... after about 15 minutes of “all right I should get going”-s and taking a few steps apart, starting to have talked about other topics and repeating the process, I finally started home. On my way home I drove past some corn fields and various other pastures. The Enclosure gave me a house near the edge of town because after a year of rigorous relearning I didn't want to live in their communal housing anymore. It's not too far from Darius's family orchard and farm which is nice. Nicest farm in the area, in my opinion. There's no real rivalry between the farmers, at least nothing too intense. But something about those trees in the distance out of my window is really relaxing. All the cattle I passed on my way home had moved to face the same direction near the fences and stared into the distance mindlessly grazing. That and the clouds rolling in were very strong indicators that there was going to be a heck of a storm tonight. I didn't listen to the weather announcement this morning but the sky's only gotten darker now so i'm ready to sleep like the dead tonight. But when I was pulling into my driveway I saw something rustling in the bushes by my front door. I thought maybe it was a squirrel or a rabbit or something but then two tiny hands parted the leaves and I saw one of those black-eyed children just sitting there staring at me. I normally only see them at night. I guess it was waiting for me to come home to loiter on my doorsteps or something, I don't know. When I got out of the car I was surprised when it actually climbed out of the bush and just rigidly stared at me with those lifeless black eyes. I got my stuff out of my car and made my way to the door, but it was kind of standing in the way. I just slid on by it with a muttered apology and slipped inside before I could start whispering requests for entrance. Never making that mistake again. No matter how much I want to let them in my house got all sorts of messed up last time and I got a heck of a scolding at work when they found out. I don't shoo them away, but I don't let them in anymore. It was really weird, they normally only come knocking or waiting by the sides of the road at night, I had never seen one in the middle of the afternoon. Once I got settled in I pulled out a book, a crossword book I was gifted at the last community bonfire. I blow through these things really fast but I really like them, so Christine gave me like five of them, all different, claimed that she found the most difficult ones that she could find, which is really sweet. She even wrote little notes on the inside cover of each of them so I've ended up actually keeping them when i'm done so I can reread her notes when I need a little pick-me-up. Whether a crossword book or a little box of treats she always writes uplifting notes and anecdotes inside any gifts she gives anyone, all signed with the most beautiful cursive- “with love, Christine Torres”. She really mothers everyone in town, at least that's what I've noticed. This one is a real toughy, which I like. That's mostly what I've been up to since I got home. I decided that I'd take a break from doing, well, this. Dr. Daman was adamant about me giving it a shot so here we are. Me, myself and I. Oh sorry, hold on, work email. (Whispered: who am i even apologizing to?) Well now, wait a minute. A new lab partner? Dr. Gia Castillo. Why the hell did they give me a new lab partner? I guess I'm meeting her in the morning. I hate it when Todd pulls this, but I’ve got no say in the matter. The usual. But I hate sudden change.
I'm tired, I'm reheating some food Mrs. Weddington gave me and going to bed. I can hear the thunder starting to get louder and that kid outside tapping on my door so I guess I should try and get some sleep. Guess I'll talk to you later? This is actually kind of nice, saying whatever I want without worries. (little laugh) I'm already dreading tomorrow. Well this is Dr. Jared Hel, signing off, I guess.
[tapping sounds, and sounds of thunder, as we fade into the outro]
OUTRO
Jar of Rebuke is written and produced by Casper Oliver, who is also the voice of Dr Jared Hel. The intro is read by Vanessa Rosengrant, and credits are read by Ashley Craft, who has also created the podcast official graphics. Music was created by Luke Menniss, spelled m-e-n-n-i-s-s, who you can find and support on Bandcamp, Spotify and Twitch. Find us on Twitter, Instagram and anywhere else you get your podcast fix for more Jar of Rebuke and also to get updates on upcoming official merch for our show. Support projects by this crew on Patreon to further other queer-lead projects and get neat perks. All donations are appreciated and will grant further clearance to special Jar of Rebuke content. You can also make one-time donations on Ko-fi.
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Smoke and Mirrors Chapter One
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Smoke and Mirrors: a magician’s trick, the art of making an entity appear to be floating through the use of smoke and mirrors. In figurative speech, something which, once examined, is proven to be an illusion. Like the moon reflected on water, or a flower reflected in a mirror. Unable to be touched.
Description: Listless idol Jeon Jungkook has lost his creative spark. Something just feels...missing. And between jet-setting across the world and constantly evading public scandals, Jungkook’s life up until now has felt like a movie. One thing Jungkook can count on, however, is video games. Y/N has been gaming forever. And when a new VR game called Arcana is released, both Y/N and Jungkook are all over it. But what will become of Jungkook’s online persona when life forces the two to work together? And will Jungkook manage to keep his identity a secret from one of his closest Internet friends?
Genre: Romance, Drama, Fluff, Angst
Pairing: Jungkook x (gender unspecified) Reader
Word Count: 12.1k
Tags: Solo Idol!Jungkook, Gamer!Jungkook, Makeup Artist!Reader, Manager!Seokjin, Florist!Hoseok
Warnings: Swearing and mentions of alcohol, although infrequently
A/N: Haha....ha....ha....um, well this is awkward isn’t it? I haven’t been active on here in a long, long time! But God does it feel nice to return. In the time I’ve been away, I’ve been working on a lot of things at once. Too many chefs in the kitchen, except the chefs are projects/responsibilities and the kitchen is me and is also on fire. I think right now more than ever, I’ve leaned into writing to help me feel a bit better about the world. So if this story can make you happy that’s honestly all I can ask for. I don’t think I’ll be keeping a posting schedule, as that feels like too much for me right now, but maybe in the future I’ll come up with a schedule that doesn’t feel overwhelming! Regardless, I’ve missed you guys and I’ve really missed posting my writing here. I hope you all still remember me! And I hope you enjoy this story. Really. As always, please feel free to send me any thoughts or concerns! Questions, critique, comments: send them all my way! I can’t wait to get chatting with you all again.
And I’m on Twitter! I’ll put the link here if you want to follow. I’m very active over there!
- Mercury
Previous Chapter – Next Chapter
Masterlist
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“On God, if you don’t start healing me-!”
“I’m working on it! Christ.”
“Well work harder, damn. Tiki’s about to go down,” you say, gritting your teeth as you whip around toward the dragon staring your party down.
It circles you, never once looking away, several stories tall with glowing yellow eyes that seem to leave trails behind in the darkness of the cavern. You feel at once impossibly small and impossibly fragile in front of such a behemoth, all purple scales and saliva stringing across pointed fangs.
“Just focus on offense for now,” says Sapphire, grunting as he lunges sword-first toward the dragon.
Your brows shoot sky high as Sapphire, a DPS like you, runs straight for the enemy. His silver knight’s armor clanks in his wake. “Wait!” you call, but it’s too late. Your teammate has his sword plunging in and slicing out and slashing wild before you can even prep your next spell. “Jesus, Saph!”
You hear his laughter like bells echo through the cavern, seeming to bounce against the domed ceiling and drip like water from the clinging stalactites. “Tiki! Distract!” you call as the dragon whips wildly: first toward Sapphire and then toward you. “Shit,” you whisper, examining your mana with a hiss. “I need a second to recover!”
Tiki, a massive green orc and also your team’s tank, rushes in with his battle axe. Upon the first hit, the dragon writhes in pain and turns toward Tiki, ire in its yellow eyes. Tiki says nothing, just lets out a string of labored breaths as he swings his heavy weapon. Sapphire is quick to attack at the dragon’s heels. The dragon opens its mouth to spew flames across the charred cavern, aiming right for Tiki, but before it can Zero finally heals him with a flash of white light and a bolt straight to his broad green chest. You jump, turn to the side to see Zero is standing beside you about twenty feet from the dragon.
“Get spelling, Nova!” he shouts, long blonde hair flying in the breeze his spell created.
His voice, deep and gruff, doesn’t suit his pretty, dark-skinned elven body: particularly the well-rendered female…curvature. Every time he talks, it takes you off guard. You shake it off and nod once.
“Loli! Get punching!” you call to your resident monk as she idles near the dragon’s tail. She says nothing. You sigh, rest a hand on your hip. “Loli!”
She jumps to attention. “Sorry! My roommate needed me,” she says with a laugh, rubbing the back of her half-shaven head.
“Tell her to piss off!” calls Tiki as the dragon, halted by Zero’s healing spell, recovers and swings a mighty paw his way.
Your mana is finally restored and, shutting your eyes, you summon a bolt of ice. With a shout, you spin your staff over your head before slamming it down with a thunderous clap. Ice splinters dizzyingly fast from the ground beneath your staff and crawls like frost until it hits the dragon, stunning it still for a few seconds.
“Health’s low! Saph, go for the kill!” Lolita shouts as she lands a solid punch on the dragon’s belly that shatters your freezing spell.
Without waiting a second more, Sapphire shoves his sword into the dragon’s heaving chest as it writhes from pain. It looses a cry that sends vibrations through the cavern. A few rocks tumble from fissures in the cave walls, and a stalactite cracks and careens toward the ground where it explodes into shards.
And, with that, the massive beast falls to its stomach, its head clunking to the ground in front of Tiki’s feet. The ensuing silence rings in your ears as the five of you stand completely still, waiting. It wouldn’t be the first time an enemy has fallen only to reveal a dormant ability that results in a second battle. None of you says a thing until the massive body before you begins to dissolve into pixels, leaving you with only the skull as a prize and a bag of loot in place of a carcass.
Lolita is the first to break the silence with a loud hoot. “Wooh! Hell yeah!” she shouts, clapping her hands.
You chuckle, lean on your staff. “Loli, you can only celebrate halfway since you missed half the fight,” you tease with a fond sigh.
She rushes toward you, wipes off her blue robes and crosses her arms. “My roommate came in!”
“And you didn’t warn us,” Zero chides as he smooths a few flyaway hairs, smiling. That model of his is just too pretty…
“I-,”
“Guys!” Sapphire shouts, jumping once as he examines the loot bag. “Look at this!”
You spin your staff in your hand and jog to stand beside the knight. His red eyes are bright, digging through the bag until he produces in one gloved hand—
“Is that a Philosopher’s Stone Fragment?” asks Tiki, similarly enraptured as he comes up beside Sapphire’s flank.
Sapphire nods. “Which means—,”
“Which means we’re one step closer,” you say, and you lock eager eyes with Sapphire who only nods. “Well shit!”
“Also means we were right to come this way,” Lolita says, holding up one finger as if correcting us. “And whose idea was that?”
Zero shoves Lolita by the head and turns back toward the loot bag. “Anything else?” he asks.
Sapphire digs around before shrugging. “A shield,” he says.
“Don’t need it,” Tiki says.
“And…mm…,” he pauses, brow furrowing as he pulls out a piece of paper. He purses his lips, runs a hand through his blue-black hair, cocks his head to the side. “Schematic?”
“For what?”
“Oh!” he exclaims, turning to you as he hands you the paper. You look it over and scoff. “Superior elemental staff.”
“Cuts down the mana I need to do spells,” you say, rolling your eyes as you pocket the paper. “Coulda used that today.”
Sapphire claps your shoulder. “Next time! We’ve still got three fragments to find before anyone else does.”
You nod. “Well, with that settled…,” you begin, itching to use the bathroom.
“Ah! You gotta leave?” asks Sapphire.
You nod. “Got work in the morning.”
“Eugh,” he sighs, shoulders slumping. “Me too.”
“Me three,” says Zero.
“Ah, the working world. We’re lucky, huh Tiki?” Lolita says with a wistful sigh as water from overhead drips onto her shoulder. She jumps a little, but settles easily. “Don’t you miss your reckless college days?”
You laugh. “I only graduated last year,” you say, turning toward Sapphire. “Speaking of which, Saph did you ever go to school?”
He stiffens. “Ah, uh…,” he begins, glancing at his feet. He’s quiet for a moment. “No. Not past high school,” he says with an almost sheepish nod.
You don’t say anything, but it seems like there’s something he’s keeping to himself, something he doesn’t want to share. Sapphire is always like that, but this feels a little different.
“Hm,” you say, sensing his discomfort. “Welp, I’m gonna peace out for the night. Message me when you guys wanna go for the next fragment. I’ll keep researching where it might be.”
“Mm, sounds good,” says Tiki. “I’m starving. Loli, wanna get some food?”
Lolita glances at Tiki out the corner of her eye. “You mean, like, real food?”
Tiki sighs. “Obviously real food. I don’t wanna waste money on game food.”
She laughs and nods. “Alright. I’ll meet you at your dorm.”
“Mm.”
Without another word, both Tiki and Lolita blink out, leaving nothing behind them. You turn toward Zero and pat his back. “Sorry for getting on your case tonight,” you say. “I was worried Tiki would fall and then…well, you get it.”
Zero shrugs, examining one of his perfect fingernails. “No, I wasn’t on my game tonight. I’ll be better next time.”
“Me too,” you say, waving as Zero too blinks out.
You turn toward Sapphire and offer a smile. “Sorry for asking about college,” you say.
He stiffens, brows raised. “Hm? Oh, no it’s fine,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck with a smile. “It’s just, uh…well, you know my dad always wanted me to go to college so…”
You wave your hands, shake your head. “Forget it, alright? I won’t bring it up unless you do first.” You smirk. “You played tank tonight, didn’t you?”
He laughs. “Yeah, a little.”
“Don’t do that shit,” you say, but you can’t help your smile. “What would we do if we lost you in the middle of a battle?”
You can see his posture go a little straight. He turns to you, blinking. “You…?” he begins, but cuts himself off with a laugh. “Ah, mm, well…I’d better get going.”
“Mhm. Message me if you get any new info about fragment locations,” you say, then chuckle. “Or if you just wanna talk about The Bachelor or something.”
He laughs with you. “I don’t watch The Bachelor!”
“Well, whatever you watch!” you call as you jog a few paces away. You offer a wave which Sapphire mimics before pressing the disconnect button on your headset.
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You shake your head, disoriented as you return to your bedroom, your window sitting before you, the outskirts of Bucheon spreading out in spindly arms around you. Your head throbs a little and you wince, removing your sensor gloves and setting them gently on the light wood table beside your computer. You guide one of the philodendron leaves to the side so it won’t tickle the gloves. You shuck off the sensor jacket too and leave it draped over the back of your gaming chair. Slowly, you return your attention to the window, smiling down at the sea of lights undulating in the dark. It’s a nice evening, you notice as you press the pads of your fingers to the cool glass.
Your phone, until then sitting dormant on the tabletop beside your potted jade plant, pings to life with a notification. Your eyes widen and you grab for it, stretching your torso as you do to work out your aching muscles. Tonight’s session with the group had gone long, and the fatigue on your back is severe from slumping in that gaming chair like a shrimp. And even though you have to move your upper body to activate the full range of Arcana’s sensor controls, your ass feels like you’ve just sat through back-to-back, four-hour lectures.
BeastSlayers™
SacredSapphire: miss u guys already :-(
You laugh, watch as Tiki begins writing a message in response.
TikiTikiRoom: ..
TikiTikiRoom: dont be soft bitch ill kill you
You pad down the hallway, watching your phone as you stumble through the dark apartment with one hand on the wall bracing you. You connect your phone to the TV speakers and play some lofi something or other, bop your head as you enter the kitchen and flip on a flickering yellow light. You rifle through the freezer, produce a cherry red popsicle. You press it to your lips and smile.
Lolovely: I haven’t even made it to Tik’s dorm wtf why are you being sappy already?
CodenameZer0: Looool, Saph? More like SAP.
TikiTikiRoom: press f
SuperNova: I think it’s sweet :’)
SuperNova: Wanna voice chat?
SacredSapphire: nonono
SacredSapphire: someone’s coming over lol
Lolovely: ominous…
You chuckle and take a bite of your popsicle. But as you do, the thing turns to mush and slides from the stick like slop, staining your white shirt and your lips red. “Shit!” you exclaim, then rush to the freezer.
With a sigh, you notice that a layer of ice is frosted over the back. And as you jam your hand in, you can feel that the temperature is higher than it should be. Hence, melty popsicle. You groan, take to it with a knife from the creaky drawer. You chip away at the ice and keep chipping until the back of the freezer is visible once more.
“Cheap piece of crap,” you mumble, kicking the fridge with your socked toe.
You return to the group chat to a slew of messages.
TikiTikiRoom: WAIT SAPH DO YOU HAVE A BOY/GIRL/THEYFRIEND??
TikiTikiRoom: IM GONNA HAVE AN ANEURISM
Lolovely: !!!!!!!!!
Lolovely: ??????
CodenameZer0: Hohohoh
CodenameZer0: Could it be?
SacredSapphire: NO!!
SacredSapphire: i don’t have a boy/girl/theyfriend! i’m too busy, rip
SacredSapphire: it’s just someone
SacredSapphire: don’t worry about it lol
Lolovely: sus…
Lolovely: nova’s better at this stuff
Lolovely: interrogation
Lolovely: think if i scream hard enough nova will come back?
Lolovely: NOVAAAAAA
You laugh and take a few photos. First of the old laminate floor which now resembles a crime scene in cherry popsicle red. Next of your shirt, now streaked in slush. Third, of your face, lips stained like you’ve smeared lip tint on your skin. You pull a pout before snapping the shot, then send all three together.
SuperNova: I crave death.
SuperNova: Stupid cheap fridge. Freezes over literally monthly.
SuperNova: I hate it here.
Lolovely: oooh that pic…
Lolovely: kinda….sexy hehe
SuperNova: ???
You set your phone aside and take to cleaning the floor. Last thing you need in this shithole is an ant infestation. Your music bumps gently through the sound bar beneath your TV. Sure, your apartment is decked out in tech, but the place itself?
You glance around the kitchen, a sanitary white with pretty fixtures, and suppress a sigh. It’s all for show anyway, this apartment. Like almost all the others in the area, it only looks nice. The reality, however…
Well, it’s melted popsicles and a shower that only runs lukewarm.
You check your phone with a hip against the countertop.
TikiTikiRoom: lewd lol
SuperNova: Shut up lmao nothing lewd about my shitty fridge.
SuperNova: Anyway, no I’m not gonna help you bully Saph.
SuperNova: Leave him alone or I’ll bite your ankles.
Lolovely: !!!
Lolovely: qu'est-ce que pas?
Lolovely: Nova…you’ve been defending Saph lately…
Lolovely: hold on i’m seeing something…
CodenameZer0: Don’t threaten my ankles.
SacredSapphire: nova baby ur the only loyal one here
Laughing, you type your response and make your way to the couch, falling flat on your stomach with an unpleasant thump.
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Jeon Jungkook sits still, swiveling in his gaming chair with a soft smile as he watches the messages surge through the Discord group chat. Even though they’re busy teasing him, Jungkook can’t help the swell of fondness in his chest for his group mates. He leans back precariously far, the room nearly pitch black save for the shifting LEDs on his keyboard and the purple screensaver on his monitor.
SuperNova: It’s you and me, Saph.
SuperNova: Now come here and get your kith :3
Jungkook chokes a laugh with his hand, covering his mouth as his eyes squint. He tosses his head to the side, lets out a sigh. Quietly, he touches the photo you sent and lets it spread across his screen. He chuckles, examining your expression. Displeased, you eye the camera with furrowed brows and a pout. Briefly, Jungkook considers telling you it’s cute.
But he quickly clicks out of the photo, clears his throat, and catches up with the chat.
CodenameZer0: God, barf.
TikiTikiRoom: no kithes for zero
Lolovely: lolol i want a kith :(
SuperNova: Get in line then. Saph first.
SacredSapphire: i….*blushes*
SacredSapphire: N-N-Noona!
CodenameZer0: FUCKING BARF GOODBYE
Zero’s icon goes offline and Jungkook laughs in earnest now, his head lolling back. But before he can respond, the door to his studio opens with a robotic jingle. He jumps a little, turning his whole body toward the door. He nearly falls off the chair as he swivels.
In the doorway, Kim Seokjin shuffling across the threshold with two cups of coffee in a carrier. He looks a little disheveled, hair windswept and eyes scanning the room round and round. His gaze lingers here and there: resting on Jungkook’s wall of figurines, then on the futon still pulled down and covered in a messy heap of sheets, then on Jungkook’s face as he sits perfectly still, perfectly redhanded. Jungkook’s mouth agape, his fingers poised to type another message to the group chat, his computer monitor showing no lyrics, no notes, no Ableton. Just his screensaver.
Jungkook had planned to pull up his WIP song before Jin arrived, but the opportunity to do that has long since passed.
“Uh…,” Jungkook says, dumbfounded with round eyes glowing in the flashing keyboard lights. “Hey, Seokjin.”
Jin’s nostrils flare, his expression fiery. His attention flashes to the sensor gloves, the controllers sitting beneath them, the sensor jacket left astray on the ground, haphazard.
“Jeon Jungkook-,”
“I can explain!”
Seokjin glares at him, cocks one single brow. “Uh-huh?”
“I…,” Jungkook begins, flustered as he rises to his feet. He feels like he’s in school again. Seokjin’s gaze is disarming, intense, and his knuckles are white as he crushes the cardboard handle of the coffee carrier. “Uh…I was taking a small tiny little break.”
“A small,” Seokjin begins, placing the coffee on Jungkook’s work desk and resting his palm beside it, “tiny,” he continues, leveling his eyes with Jungkook’s, “little break?” Jin’s jaw is clenched.
Jungkook swallows hard. “Mhm…”
Jungkook expects Seokjin to bare his canines, to sneer at him, to scold him to kingdom come. But his manager simply eases into a sigh and leans away from Jungkook, rubbing his forehead. It’s clear the will to fight with Jungkook is slowly leaking, and before long Seokjin has fallen backwards onto the futon, crushing the blanket mountain in his descent.
“Listen,” Seokjin says, fatigue in his voice. “You’ve got…so much going on in the next few months, you know?”
“I know!” Jungkook says, quick to sit beside Seokjin, brows knitting. He feels like a kid again, and the disappointment laced through Jin’s words feels like his childhood. “Trust me, I’m not just…like, procrastinating. It’s not that.”
Jin eyes him sidelong. “Then what is it?”
Jungkook stiffens, his back straight as a board. He clears his throat, stares at the coffee. “Let me get those,” he says, rushing to his feet with a clumsy stumble and grabbing the coffees before returning to his spot beside Jin. He hands Jin a coffee, expectant and, begrudgingly, Seokjin takes it and sips.
“Don’t avoid the question,” he says, stern. “If anyone’ll understand, it’s gotta be me, right?”
Jungkook nods. “No, you’re right!”
“Like, we’ve gone through some hard shit and where have I been? Right behind you. From day one,” he says, leveling a serious look at Jungkook. The lighthearted mood has fled from the room through the cracks in the walls. “All I’m asking is for you to put in the effort.”
Jungkook sighs, rests his forearms on his knees, laces his fingers around the coffee cup. He stares at the space between his toes. “I just…,” he begins, voice choked with insecurity. He doesn’t want to say it. In fact, he’d rather do just about anything else.
Because, after all, saying it means it’s real.
And if it’s real, then it’s a real problem.
“Listen,” Jin begins, patting Jungkook’s back. “I get it. Making music…it can be really tiring, right?” he says. Jungkook can only shrug. “And sometimes you might not feel like you can do it. Like you don’t have the inspiration.”
“Mm…”
Seokjin gives another pat, stronger this time. “But that’s how life is, Jungkook. Work doesn’t just wait. You’re an adult now. You’ve got adult responsibilities. And when you make a passion into your full-time job, you kinda sacrifice the freedom. Deadlines are a thing. You can’t just…be flippant and casual about it.”
“I’m not being casual,” says Jungkook, and for the first time since Jin walked in his voice is strong and steady. He sits up straight and meets Jin’s imploring eyes.
Seokjin offers a small smile. “Good,” he says. “I trust you. And, you know, you’ve got a whole team of producers behind you who wanna see you succeed. All you’ve gotta do is call.”
“I know.”
“You’re not doing it alone, alright?” he asks, and Jungkook’s throat tightens a little. “That’s the good thing about making your passion into your full-time job, huh? Now…well, now it’s not just your responsibility. It’s divided.”
“Yeah.”
“Well…,” Seokjin says, patting his thighs as he pushes to his feet. “Just wanted to drop by and check on you.”
Jungkook offers a smile and nods, standing with his manager. “Yup.”
“You do remember what’s on deck for tomorrow, right?” asks Seokjin, cocking a brow as he takes another swig of coffee.
Jungkook nods again. “Screen test with the drama people.”
Jin smacks the side of Jungkook’s head and crosses his arms. “Not the drama people!” he says, rolling his eyes. “It’s IJBC.”
“IJBC, right,” Jungkook says as he tenderly rubs the side of his head. “I remember.”
“Do you even know the name of the drama?” The younger boy falls silent, sheepish. “It’s called Give Up Generation, Jungkook.”
“I remember,” Jungkook says, pouting a little. “I just…forgot for a minute.”
Jin can’t help chuckling. “Get to bed early then so you don’t have dark circles,” Jin says with a smile, nodding as he turns toward the door. “Ah!” Seokjin pivots around, casting a disdainful look over Jungkook’s shoulder at the foldout futon. He pulls a scowl. “Sleep at home tonight, will you?”
Jungkook chuckles. “Alright. Stop nagging now,” he says, patting Jin’s back as he guides him out the door and into the hallway. “Bye, Jin!” he calls, not awaiting a response.
Slowly and with his head down, Jungkook shuffles back inside and slumps into his gaming chair, staring at his screensaver. He heaves a deep down sigh, lets it escape through his lips nearly pinched shut. Like exhaling cigarette smoke.
His phone pings to life with an incoming message.
SuperNova: Alright, I had your back before but I don’t cosign the Noona Agenda. I don’t even know if I am your noona.
Lolovely: seconded.
Lolovely: plus it’s icky.
TikiTikiRoom: boooooo
SuperNova: Wait, I think I just heard something in the hallway. Hold on.
Lolovely: SCARY!
TikiTikiRoom: burglars lol
Lolovely: ctrl z yourself, tiki
Lolovely: what if it is though…?
TikiTikiRoom: doubt it.
SuperNova: !!!
SuperNova: Lol it was a package…?
Lolovely: so late…?
SuperNova: Yeah…Lemme open it hold on.
The next message that comes through is a photo you send. Jungkook sits up straighter, opens it quick, and grins once he realizes what it is. A cardboard box, relatively big, sitting torn open on your kitchen floor, the photo features a look inside at several pretty makeup palettes and brushes. Jungkook doesn’t know the names of everything he sees, but he knows why it’s a big deal.
SacredSapphire: !! they finally sent it!!
SuperNova: They did!!
Lolovely: wait what? what did who send?
SuperNova: Lol, sorry. Uh I guess I only told Saph. But the brand I’ve been communicating with actually sent me a PR package! I’m gonna use it on my next job.
SuperNova: This shit’s super expensive too, so I’m lucky I’ve been in contact with a rep.
SuperNova: Gotta use the best to be the best!
TikiTikiRoom: i forgot ur a makeup artist lol
TikiTikiRoom: .-.
SuperNova: …
SuperNova: We’ve been group mates for like four months jfc
SuperNova: Anyway, yeah I’m glad. I guess they sent it to the wrong apartment? So my neighbor brought it over. He just got back from work.
Lolovely: neighbor?
Lolovely: cute neighbor?
SuperNova: He’s like seventy so no, not really my type.
SacredSapphire: nova, that’s super cool. i’m sure you’re gonna get big gigs soon.
SuperNova: Well, I can hope haha.
SuperNova: No, well…all I can do is work hard.
SuperNova: >:-)
All you can do is work hard, huh?
Jungkook tosses his phone to the side and rubs his hands up and down his face. He pinches his eyes shut and relaxes into the back of his chair, feeling the lull of sleepiness finally pulling at him.
And instead of going home like Jin asked, Jungkook simply pads over to the futon and, without moving the blankets, collapses atop them and falls asleep where he falls.
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“I’m very sorry.”
“No…uh, no it’s fine.”
“Of course, you can keep the fees or whatever.”
“Oh, um, I…no, I’ll refund those too.”
“Really? I’ll give you a really good review!”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m really sorry.”
You sigh, plant a hand on your forehead and heave a sigh. Forcing a smile, you shake your head and press your phone into the crook of your shoulder, bending down to give your fiddle-leaf fig a hose down with your watering can.
“It’s fine. Things come up, you know?”
The girl on the other side of the phone, a young independent model going in for headshots, had called you an hour ago and had spoken at length about why she has to cancel her appointment with you today. How the photographer did this or that, how she actually watched a few tutorials online and figured she could do it herself, how she felt so so bad. You feel bad for her, of course. Kind of.
“Listen, I’ll give you a shoutout on my page, alright? I’ll tag you in my story,” she says.
You shake your head. “No, that’s fine. Just, um…you know, take care. Remember to clean your brushes.”
At this, she laughs. “Thanks for being so cool. I was actually super nervous to call and cancel. I’ve had to cancel a few things like this before, and I’ve had bad experiences,” she says. “Anyway, I’ll recommend you!”
“Alright.”
“Thanks!”
You nod as she hangs up the phone. Gently, you rise to your feet and set your watering can aside on the kitchen table. You set the phone beside it, pausing to glare at the black screen. Well…there goes your Sunday. You turn over your shoulder, pad to the window, crack it open a little. A bracing breeze whistles through, cooling your skin. You shut your eyes against it — only for a moment — before you turn on your heel, shove your feet into your sneakers sockless, swipe your phone and house keys, and shove out the door.
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The florist’s is a healthy walk away, but the weather is nice enough and you’re too tired to brave the subway even if it’s only a few stops. You pass buildings and parks as the landscape becomes more and more urban and the high rises look like they could puncture the cloud layer. Before long, you’re standing in front of Happy Garden and, stepping through the sliding doors that are always left open and all-but nonfunctioning with the lush green plants climbing all around. You breathe a sigh of relief, pat your chest a little as the fresh, grassy scent settles your heart.
You aren’t there for more than half a minute before Hoseok stumbles out from the back room, grinning wide with a bouquet of hydrangeas in his hands, wrapped in butcher paper and twine. He curves around the stumbling greenery littering every surface and encroaching on every walkway and comes to a stop in front of you. He smiles.
“Hey,” you say before he gets the chance. You hold up one limp hand in a lazy wave.
He glances up and down, from your head to your toes, and sighs. Still holding the hydrangeas, he rests a hip on the checkout counter and cocks a brow.
“That is the opposite of encouraging,” you remark with a scowl.
He chuckles, pats your arm. “What’s up?” He jerks his head toward the front of the store where bouquets are displayed and you follow behind him as he leads you there. “Unsuccessful raid?”
“Contrary to popular belief, my life doesn’t revolve around video games, actually,” you say, but his laugh wipes the grimace from your face.
His fluffy hair bounces as he bends down to add the hydrangeas to the display and when he stands upright once more he crosses his arms. “You know what I mean. You’ve been in here a lot lately.”
“Pardon me for trying to raise plants,” you say with a pout.
Again, he laughs. “Jesus, stop trying to pick a fight!” he says. “You must be in a really bad mood if you’re here acting like this.”
“Well what’s that supposed to mean?” you begin, outrage all over your face, before locking eyes with Hoseok and composing yourself. You sigh, nod your head. “Yeah, no I’m being annoying.”
He smiles, heart-shaped, and the apples of his cheeks grow rounder. What a joyful guy, you think to yourself with a wistful sigh. “Tell me about it then.”
He pulls one of the empty display boxes over and offers you a seat as he begins tending to the plants all around. You oblige, settle in, and sigh again. “It’s just…everything kinda feels like a dead end right now.”
“Hm?” he asks over his shoulder, graceful hands guiding a waxy leaf back in place.
“Like with my work,” you say, then shake your head. “No, that’s not it. Not entirely.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like…things are okay, you know? I’m getting PR gifts. I’m growing my following on Instagram. I’ve got consistent clients,” you say, nodding. “Like everything is fine, you know?”
“But something feels…missing maybe?” Hoseok offers as he moves to spraying the ferns with water.
You shake your head. “More than that, it’s…like, I feel like I’ve hit the ceiling of what I can do, you know? Like what if this is the best I’ll ever do?”
“Is that bad?” he asks.
You sigh. “Not bad, just…disappointing,” you say. “I wanna work on movies. Red carpets. Editorials.” You rest your chin in your hand and your elbow on your knee. You stare up at Hoseok, now trimming brown leaves from another plant across the store. “I don’t wanna be stuck doing birthday parties forever.”
Hoseok hums, turns toward you with his hands in his apron pocket. He offers a smile. “You sound like a brat.”
You stiffen, eyes wide. “I-,” you start, but there’s really not much you can say to retort. So, softly, you slump once more and shrug. “Yeah…”
“And if you keep that attitude, you’re never gonna be an editorial makeup artist. I can promise you that,” he says with a nod as he approaches once more and crouches before your knees, still smiling. “Everyone has to grow somehow, you know? Be grateful you’ve got opportunities to build your resume.”
You nod. “Yeah.”
“What brought all of this on?”
Shrugging, you glance away toward the big croton plant in the corner, basking in morning sunlight, leaves all stiff and red and green. It’s a pretty plant. You tilt your head to the side, stare longer.
“That model bailed,” you say, but you’ve almost forgotten the self-pity of a moment ago. You stand to your feet and wander toward the plant, hitting halfway up your thigh. You crouch before it and look it over. “Hoseok, this is a really big croton.”
He laughs. “Mhm.”
“How much?”
“With the pot and given its height, it’s going for thirty-five-thousand won.”
You raise your brows. “I expected worse.”
“We’re fair here!” he protests, wagging his finger at you as he comes to stand beside you.
You smile softly, run a finger along the edge of a leaf. “It’s really pretty.”
“Suits you,” he says.
Without noticing, your anxiety begins to subside. “I think I’ll take it.”
“I’ll give you five-thousand off since you’re having a bad day,” he says, patting your back.
You turn to him with a smile. “Thanks.”
He chuckles. “I’ll loan you the dolly so you can get that thing home. Just bring it back before two.”
You stand up, stare down at the plant, nod once. “Mhm.”
Hoseok makes his way toward the cash register, punches in a few numbers. You linger a few steps behind, still staring at the croton. You get a good feeling off that one. Hoseok would tease you if you said as much, but you know when to listen to your intuition.
“Your big break will come Y/N,” Hoseok says as he rings you up, not once glancing to meet your eyes. “Just keep going.”
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Jungkook sits with his head leaning against the rattling van window, eyes half-shut. Seoul blurs past him in shades of silvery grey and it’s all he can do to keep himself from falling asleep. For all his nagging, Seokjin had been right about one thing: Jungkook was sporting purplish bags beneath his eyes from a restless night’s sleep. Jin sits beside him now, frowning at his phone as he scrolls through Twitter. He’d given Jungkook a very stern talking to once he’d seen him, and really Jungkook deserved it. He knows that.
“Your voice is in good condition, right?” asks Jin.
Jungkook sits up straight, clears his throat. He shrugs. “Yeah. Why?”
Still stewing over his phone, Seokjin waves his hand without looking up. “Don’t worry about it.”
Jungkook sighs, leans back once more, gazes out the window once more. His phone buzzes once and he grabs it quickly, eager to distract himself.
BeastSlayers™
SuperNova: [image attached]
SuperNova: check him out OJO
Jungkook clicks the image you sent and chuckles as it loads up. The photo features nothing of you save for one hand, reaching out from behind the camera, throwing up a peace sign. Behind your hand, a houseplant. A pretty big one at that.
Jungkook smiles and drafts his reply, but the others are quicker.
CodenameZer0: Another plant? Lol isn’t your apartment overflowing with them by now?
SuperNova: Hush. Look at him.
LoLovely: cute!
LoLovely: does he have a name?
SuperNova: I don’t name my plants.
TikiTikiRoom: lol
TikiTikiRoom: because THAT would be weird
CodenameZer0: At least Nova can care care for a plant in the first place.
CodenameZer0: Let’s be honest here, Nova’s probably the only one among us who is even remotely responsible enough.
SacredSapphire: Nova it’s cute!
SacredSapphire: name him after me ;3
SuperNova: Sapphire?
SacredSapphire: hmmm say my name hehe
CodenameZer0: STOP IT FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST
CodenameZer0: IF THE FLIRTING DOESN’T STOP I’M GETTING YOU A TWO-WEEK BAN ON ARCANA
SacredSapphire: SHIT okay okay, let’s just take it easy
SacredSapphire: talk this out like adults…
SuperNova: Once I’ve finished setting up my new plant, I’m gonna play Animal Crossing. Anyone free to join? I’ve got oranges and mums.
SuperNova: Also had a meteor shower last night and have leftover star fragments first come first served.
The offer is tempting, to be sure. Not only would he receive star fragments, he’d be able to wander your island with the others. It might feel like you guys are side-by-side for real. Jungkook reaches into his backpack, slumped between his knees, and rifles around for his Switch. But as he produces the case, Seokjin shoots him the evil eye.
“If you’ve got time to play games, you’ve got time to review your lines,” he says, cocking a brow.
Jungkook sighs a little, slides the Switch back inside his bag. “I’ll look them over again.”
“Good.”
He takes one last look at his cell phone, checking the group chat with a frown that pinches the sides of his lips.
TikiTikiRoom: MEMEMEME
TikiTikiRoom: if any of you fakes get there before me ill go apeshit
TikiTikiRoom: i need so many
LoLovely: don’t need fragments, just wanna see ur cute face hehe
SuperNova: /blushes
SuperNova: I’ll open the gates once Sapphire Junior is nice and settled.
CodenameZer0: I’ll come too. I wanna shop.
SuperNova: Can’t you be cute like Lolita?
CodenameZer0: /gags
SuperNova: You coming, Saph? I’ll save a few fragments for you.
TikiTikiRoom: FAVORITISM
SuperNova: I am transparent about my favoritism toward Sapphire.
SuperNova: Because he is indeed my favorite.
LoLovely: *shocked pikachu face*
SacredSapphire: soz :-( i can’t
SacredSapphire: working
SuperNova: :-(
SuperNova: Next time we’ll all come to your island.
Jungkook tries not to feel that twinge of melancholy that tugs at his chest. That one he always gets when his friends go out for barbecue or grab drinks and hit the karaoke rooms. The one that feels like he’s really, deeply, fundamentally missing out on something important.
No, he doesn’t feel it. Instead, he focuses his attention on the printout Seokjin had given him three days ago. He scans the lines over and over, committing them to memory.
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“No! That’s the thing, she didn’t even tell me!” says the girl below your brush.
You attempt to guide the highlighter across her cheekbones, but before you can make contact with her skin she’s jerked away once more, talking so animatedly that you can’t even tell if you’ve made her eyebrows even.
“That’s shitty,” says her friend beside her, likewise preoccupied as Jieun struggles to match her skintone.
The two of you lock eyes, both hovering over the two women as they chat over matching cups of coffee. Jieun puffs out her cheeks, raises her brows, and goes back to work, smoothing foundation on to the client’s chin with a brush.
You stand in a nice apartment — all marble floors and high ceilings and windowed walls overlooking Seoul. When you’d gotten the offer for a Seoul gig with Jieun, you’d been hesitant. The subway ride is long and you prefer to stay relatively local. But something made you agree. You don’t know exactly what. Call it divine intervention or epiphany or Jung Hoseok, but the words just keep going had been replaying in your brain since you last saw your friend. The pair of women — likely in their thirties — had booked both you and Jieun to do their makeup for a Sunday luncheon.
“And you know she’s looking out for him,” says Hyejin with a scoff. “As if I’m gonna bite the kid’s head off.”
“Maybe you will,” jokes the other woman, laughing just as Jieun reaches in to apply some liquid blush to her cheeks. “You know she’s got a soft spot for him.”
“Yeah well it’s a soft spot in all of our wallets if he doesn’t get his shit together,” says Hyejin, sighing. There is real woe in her expression and you can feel from the shift in atmosphere that things have turned serious. “He’s talented, you know? But…sometimes I think she goes too easy on him,” she continues, and this time her tone is decidedly softer, the movement of her face less pronounced.
You use the opportunity to work some powder beneath her eyes with a sponge. “Well, that’s motherhood for you,” says the other, flippant.
“Have you seen what the folks are saying on Twitter?” asks Hyejin as you apply shadow to her eyelids. “About his voice.”
“Hm?”
“Well some of his bigger hate communities have been compiling all the footage of his stage mistakes and they’re spreading it around,” Hyejin says with a huff. “Stupid, honestly. They’re making it out like he makes those mistakes all the time.”
“Netizens are like that, Hyejin,” says the other woman, now easing into her chair with her eyes shut as Jieun can finally get to work setting her base.
“Still…”
“Now you’re the one defending him,” she remarks with a laugh.
“It’s not that,” Hyejin says, scoffing. “It’s just…like if he doesn’t prove himself soon, all those commenters are gonna have more ammunition, you know? Which is annoying for all of us.”
“Sounds like you care a little bit.”
“I dont.”
“Hm.”
You focus on Hyejin’s full lashes, applying mascara with delicate, steady strokes. She hums a little as you use the pad of your fingertips to tame stubborn eyeshadow into blending more seamlessly. It seems, at least, that the conversation has died down. For that, you are very grateful.
“Say, do you two know anything about k-pop?” asks Jieun’s client.
The two of you lock eyes once more. It’s true that you are well-versed in pop culture: video games, TV shows, YouTube drama. But you’d be lying if you said you tune in to Inkigayo every week. And despite Jieun’s age and her trendy look, you know she’s not the type to keep updated on current idols. And you see in her brown eyes your own shock mirrored.
“Um…no, not particularly,” you answer for the both of you. Jieun releases a breath she’d been holding and smiles her thanks. “Do you two work in the field?”
Hyejin waves her hand and sighs. “Don’t go bothering them with those sorts of questions,” she says, and you notice for the first time the easy poshness that this woman has. Even with her head tilted back and her eyes shut tight, she seems sure of herself.
You envy her just a little for that.
“What? They’re young,” says the other woman, grinning with her eyes shut as Jieun works on her eyeliner. “You ever heard of RTE?”
“Hey now,” says Hyejin, warning in her voice.
“I’m just curious,” the woman continues with a sigh. “Look us up if you haven’t.” The woman chuckles, reaching out blind to smack Hyejin’s upper arm. “Hey, maybe even tweet something nice about our artists!”
“Knock it off and let them work,” Hyejin says, prying open one eye to meet yours. She offers a smile, apologetic, and sighs. “She’s just playing around. You can ignore her. It’s what I do.” She nods her head and leans it back once more.
Quietly, you get back to work. But you can’t help but feel like this woman’s incredible presence makes you paler somehow.
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“What’s the point if it makes me unhappy?” Jungkook shouts, brows knitting, eyes growing watery. “The money, the lifestyle…what good is it?” his voice settles into a bare whisper, cracked.
“You only say that because you’re young! You’re stupid! You’re naive! You think things work out just because you want them bad enough?” says his costar, glancing down at the script every now and again as the two stand across from one another.
The set bustles on behind them, crew carrying tall lights and fixtures as they scuttle by. But Jungkook and his costar — a man named Namjoon acting as his older brother — continue their scene under the watchful eye of the cameras, trained right on them. Less of a screen test and more of a chemistry check between actors, Director Lim watches the monitor closely with his scrabbly chin in his palm.
“So what if I fail?” Jungkook asks with a quiver, referencing his script once to make sure he got the line right. “What’re you gonna do? Tattle on me to Dad?”
“I won’t have to,” Namjoon says, sighing as he grips the bridge of his nose. “He’s got his watchdogs trained right on you.”
Jungkook stiffens. “He’s been…following me?”
“I told you you’re too naive for the real world, Jiwon.”
Director Lim claps his hands and in an instant the tension and the scene are broken. Jungkook takes a respectful step back from his costar, and Namjoon offers him a bow of the head. Jungkook returns it, fighting off a nervous grin, and turns to the director as he circles around the equipment to stand in front of them. He’s a middle-aged man, handsome in a way with salt-and-pepper hair and eyes that seem to grab you and hold on like a snare. Jungkook is pinned in place like a bug in a shadowbox.
But Director Lim’s face splits in a crooked smile and Jungkook feels himself ease, exhaling long and slow. “Great job, boys!” he says, clapping both of their shoulders. “You were selling it well.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Jungkook replies too quick, like an eager child.
Director Lim chuckles, pats him again. “I’m praising you, kid. Don’t look so scared.”
He swallows hard. “I…I know. Um…thank you, Sir.”
Behind the trio, a group of stylists cart a rack of costumes quickly to the other side of the set, snagging the back of Jungkook’s shoe as they do. Jungkook stumbles to his knees, caught off guard, and the girls jerk to a stop as they catch themselves on the clothing rack. The two stare down at Jungkook, wide-eyed, and each of them covers their mouths. Immediately, they bow their heads in apology, both muttering sorry, so sorry almost too quietly to hear. Jungkook shakes his head and stands to his feet.
He too bows his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been standing there,” he says gently, hoping to assuage their concerns.
But the girls remain bowed, as if too afraid to even lift their heads. Jungkook, puzzled, leans down slightly to meet their eyes, but they glance away so quickly that he can’t even get a proper look at either of their faces.
“Um…it’s really not a problem,” he says, but before he can say more Director Lim approaches with a grim severity in his eyes. Jungkook, quick to stand up straight and face the director, stutters a little as he settles himself in front of the stylists. “It’s no big deal,” he says to Director Lim, but it’s like the man can’t even hear him.
“We were distracted, Sir,” says one of the girls, raising her head slightly to meet Director Lim’s gaze. “We are very, very sorry.”
“It really isn’t-,” Jungkook begins.
“You think it’s appropriate to crash into my actors? In the middle of a conversation about their performance?” Lim asks, but it’s clear the question isn’t meant to be answered. His tone has shifted into something cold. “You could have very well injured Jungkook.”
“I’m fine-,”
“But what if you weren’t?”
Jungkook shuts his mouth, staring helpless at the girls as they both stand up straight once more, eyes on the floor and hands knitted in front of them. He feels a hand on his back between his shoulder blades and jumps a little, turning quick to find Namjoon standing close.
“Don’t,” is all he says, voice terse and so quiet Jungkook almost doesn’t hear it, before dropping his hand and taking a half step back.
Jungkook’s jaw clenches, his hands work into balls as he stares. The lighting is low, dramatic as if a scene composed by Lim himself. The two girls lift only their eyes to gaze up at him.
“We’re very, very sorry, Sir,” says one of the stylists, guiding a lock of dark hair behind her ear.
“Mhm,” he says, looming. “Make sure it doesn’t happen again. Can’t afford to replace two stylists and a makeup artist in the same week.”
Jungkook simply stares, Namjoon’s warning freezing through him like ice. His limbs feel leaden. And as the two girls rush off, dragging their rack behind them, Jungkook focuses again on Director Lim.
He swivels back around to the two actors with a bright, fatherly smile. “Pardon me,” he says, waving his hand with a warm laugh. “Gotta keep the crew in check otherwise they’ll slack off.”
“Ha,” Jungkook puffs out in response, smiling in turn.
Namjoon hums a little. “Why don’t we try the reconciliation scene?”
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“What in the world do you mean?” Hyejin yells into her phone just as she ushers you into her apartment. You eye her as her face grows red, her brows coming together. “He’s not quitting!”
Hyejin pauses to offer you an apologetic smile. She’s dressed in a modest pajama dress, padding barefoot along the cool marble floors. She leans against the arm of a nice black leather sofa, raises a hand to her flushed cheek, looks at her toes with vexation. Carefully, you set your makeup kit on her kitchen island, meeting her eyes with raised brows as if asking permission. She waves her hand, nods once before pinching the bridge of her nose between her index finger and her thumb.
“Listen, we knew Lim was difficult. But this is a huge opportunity for his career.” Hyejin rubs her kneecap, massaging. Her short hair falls along the line of her jaw as she dips her head in a deep sigh. “I know you know that, Seokjin. But you’re his manager. You’ve gotta keep convincing him.”
You begin unpacking your things, setting them neatly along the edge of the countertop, and try not to eavesdrop as Hyejin continues letting out chopped sighs. You can hear her fidget around the apartment behind you. She’d called you again, only a few days later, to secure you for another important event. A meeting, she’d said. You didn’t want to agree. Wanted to say you were too busy, that the commute was too much.
“Hey,” she whispers behind you. You jump, but turn nonetheless to find her cupping one hand over the phone’s receiver. Her eyes are severe, jaw clenched. “How long can you stay? This call might take a while.”
You raise your brows, think back over your schedule. “Hm…,” you respond, then shake your head. “I’m free all day. But…when’s your meeting?”
She stiffens, eyes flashing to the clock on the oven. “Shit,” she mutters. She approaches you with a frown. “I’ve only got two hours to get everything ready—Yes! Yes, I’m still here Seokjin. Stop panicking, for Christ’s sake—,” she says, her shoulders pinching. She glances at you again. “Um…”
You glance around the apartment. It’s spotless, as usual. But you spy in the corner beside a massive potted umbrella tree a taupe pantsuit, hanging beside a steamer. You’d have thought someone in her position would have sent it to the cleaners to be properly steamed, but perhaps it had slipped her mind. With the way she’s pacing around the apartment, still dressed in her pajamas, you wonder if perhaps she’s not as put together as you thought.
“I’ll steam that,” you say with a nod, pointing to the suit.
She stares at you, wide-eyed. “Oh, no. You don’t have to do something like that-,”
You shake your head. “No problem. What else do you need done here?” you ask, consulting your wristwatch with a hum. “If we keep it light, I can have your makeup done in forty-five minutes.”
She blinks at you. “Uh…well…,” she begins, then jumps a little as a voice in the phone shouts loud enough for you to hear. “No! No! Can you relax? I’ll talk you through it in just a minute! I’ve gotta sort some things out,” she shouts back at the phone. She turns her attention back to you with a sheepish smile. “Um, I need to steam the suit, wrap the fruits — they’re a gift for the client —, call the restaurant to confirm the reservation, shine my shoes, organize our documents chronologically and set them up in a binder,” she says.
You have to admit that the sheer volume of busywork has you taken aback. But you steel yourself with a bracing sigh, nod once, and offer her a smile. “Consider it taken care of,” you say.
“Ah! I…I really feel bad dumping all of this on you,” she says, crossing her arms with knit brows. “Normally I’d have my assistant doing all of this, but she’s ill.”
“Not a problem,” you say, smiling once more. “Just take care of your phone call and leave the rest to me! As long as we’ve got forty-five minutes for makeup, we’ll be fine.”
She lets out a sigh that seems to deflate her, shoulders slumping as if in profound relief. She nods once, smiling, and turns on her heel. “I’ll be in my office, alright? I promise I’ll be out in time!”
You give one wave as she rushes through a clouded glass door and shuts it behind her. You roll up the sleeves of your sweater and get to work on the suit.
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Two hours later, and you’re accompanying Hyejin out into the apartment hallway. She pauses as the door clicks shut, waiting for it to give a chime, and turns to you with a sigh. She looks pretty. You had to rush a bit once she emerged from her office, and after taking care of the other chores you found it difficult to focus on her makeup, but you’re proud enough of your work given the circumstances. You’ve managed to match her eyeshadow to her pantsuit with gentle oranges and reds.
Since you were rushing to finish everything in time, the two of you hadn’t had a chance to exchange words. Perhaps you are curious — just a little — about the emergency she had to quell over the phone. Or maybe you just want a proper thank you. So you linger beside her in the well-lit hallway, you let your eyes wander to a potted fern in the corner by the elevator, wait for Hyejin to say something.
“I’m sorry,” she says, sighing. She glances at you through her lashes.
Your eyes go wide. “Hm? What for?”
“For having you do all of that,” she says, flitting one manicured hand. “I feel guilty.”
You shake your head. “No,” you say with a smile. “It’s no problem at all, honestly. You had me booked for an hour and a half anyway.”
She sighs again. “I really feel bad.”
“Don’t worry about it…,” you say, eyeing her. She crosses her arms, vexed, and purses her lips a little. “Um…was that call about an artist?” you ask.
She snaps back to herself, glancing at you. “Oh? Yes. That was about our biggest artist actually,” she says. “I think I’ve got it taken care of though, thanks to you.” She guides the two of you to the elevator. “I’ll pay you extra, alright?”
You laugh. “No, no. It’s fine! I’m just glad it all worked out.”
She stares at you, scanning you for a very long moment as the elevator rises to your floor. You try not to fidget, not to shrink under her scrutiny, but you feel yourself recoiling just a little. Her gaze is intense, knowing, as if she can see right through you and she’s looking for something. And as the elevator arrives, she gives a hum that sounds contented and you wonder if she’s found it.
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Jungkook glances around the empty pavilion, scanning the cobbled streets for any sign of escape. From above, a dark mage is laying waste to the small shanty town. Not a single player has ventured out this way, all following a lead in the Elysian Forest to the west. But after you had mentioned a tip you got from researching at the Library of Arcana, you’d suggested visiting the seaside nook on the far south of the map. A legendary evil slumbers hidden, you’d recited over voice chat with a laugh, Sounds about right.
Only now, Jungkook’s alone. His hands are sweaty around the controllers in his palms and the realistic graphics are serving only to make him more nervous as the mage swings low near the central fountain and sets off a spray of fire just in front of him. Jungkook can almost feel the heat.
Jungkook had set out to do some scouting. Nothing extreme. Just a simple peek about, seeing if he could find any clues. He sent a message to the group chat, but he hadn’t waited on a response before he signed in. He’d had no idea that the Big Bad herself would come flying from the fountain the moment he touched the water with his sword. And now she’s circling him like some sort of hawk. Quickly, Jungkook calls up his inventory menu and searches through his items. A few extra swords he picked up, some ritual herbs, his old chainmail armor, some healing potions and…
The fragment…
If this mage takes him out, he’ll end up dropping his entire inventory. Including the fragment.
And by the time he can make his way back over here, other players will have come running from the commotion.
And the fragment will be gone.
“Shit,” he hisses out, dismissing the menu and focusing back on the mage as she releases a chilling cackle.
The quaint village is smoking, with thatched roofs catching fire and whole storefronts crumbling into piles of simmering stone. The sky is nearly blotted out with ash, and all he can see is that mage, swirling around up there in billowing black robes and shiny white teeth exposed in a wicked grin.
Jungkook glances over his shoulder toward the street he’d taken in to the village, but it’s too smokey to see anything more than the outlines of ruined buildings. There’s no way he’ll be able to navigate his way out of here without a lantern. And if it’s this smokey, he’s absolutely positive that nearby players have noticed. Which means more competition.
And more people to snatch his fragment when he falls.
The mage gives a cry, shouts her line, “Not enough yet?!”, and swoops down at a dizzying pace. Jungkook stumbles back, but he’s not fast enough. She’s approaching in a dark blur, too quickly for him to counter. A flash of regret washes through him as he squeezes his eyes shut inside his VR headset. He doesn’t want to see this.
He waits for a tense moment that way, anticipating the melancholy piano chords that accompany in-game death, but none come. Instead, he hears very keenly the sound of the mage grunting as if in pain. And, in an instant, he opens his eyes wide to see standing on the other side of the fountain, a small, white-haired mage, staff searing with frost and ice as the dark mage clutches her chest.
His heart kicks up. “Nova!” he calls to you.
You turn toward him and, to the extent that you’re able in a video game, square him with a sour look. “You moron!” you shout back.
But he can’t help his grin as he stares at your character. “How’d you get here so fast?”
You launch another ball of ice toward the dark mage, sending her hovering just above the cobblestone in front of the fountain. “I saw your message and figured you’d already gone ahead like an idiot so I logged on right away.”
He laughs, but you’re too focused on dealing ice damage to reciprocate. It seems of all his allies, you’re the best equipped to deal with a dark fire mage. He notices in your hand the staff you wield has changed. Where before you used a gnarled tree root with a rune, now you’re swinging a cool white metal staff with a glowing blue gem.
“New staff!” he calls, pointing.
You nod. “Mhm. The schematic from last time,” you say, dealing another blast. The dark mage falls to the ground, groaning. Jungkook is too excited to see you to notice his cue to act, but your head is very much in the game and you jerk your staff toward the fallen mage. “Well? You gonna slash her or what?”
Jungkook stiffens, jumping back into action. He hoists his sword and lunges, giving the mage a few good hits before recoiling back as she rises into the sky once more. The dark mage sends out a barrage of wild, uncontrolled fire that manages to miss Jungkook and hit you.
“Shit!” you call, pausing to glance through your inventory like Jungkook had before. “Dammit! I’m out of health potions,” you say. He notices your health bar is looking low.
“Why are you so hurt?” he asks as you rush toward him.
You sigh. “I ran into some boars in the woods on the way over here and they drained my health a little.”
“Shit,” Jungkook repeats.
“Yeah,” you say, watching as the dark mage readies another spell. “This is why I wanted all of us to go here together.”
“I know,” Jungkook says, his cheeks flaring hot. “I’m sorry.”
You sigh again. “Don’t worry,” you say, flitting your hand. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to start the battle.”
Jungkook is quiet, thinking. You’d always been this way. From the first time the party played together, you’d been generous with him. With everyone. When Tiki fell in the party’s first battle against some goblins, you’d been the one to retrieve his stuff and give up your armor for him. When Zero — the richest player by far — forgot about your scheduled meeting to gather supplies, you’d paid for everyone’s health potions and weapon repairs in his stead.
He shook his head. “No, I shouldn’t have gone off on my own.”
“No you shouldn’t have,” you say, humming. “You need to remember you’ve got a whole team of people who have your back.” He can hear a smile in your voice.
“I-,” he begins, but you cut him off.
“Alright, here’s what we’ll do for now. She’s at half health, so I’ll just wail on her with my ice until she’s within melee range and then you slash her,” you say with a nod. “And if I fall, I fall. Hopefully by then she’ll be low enough health that you can finish her off alone.”
“No, no. If it comes down to it, I’ll take the hit. I’ve got more HP and you’re the one who can do ranged attacks anyway,” Jungkook replies.
There’s no more time to argue, however, because the dark mage turns her fiery eyes toward the two of you and screams before pointing her staff right at Jungkook. Startled, Jungkook glances over at you to see you’re watching too. Neither of you has a chance to say anything before the blast hits, sending the two of you flying back against the fronts of buildings turned to ashy rubble. You let out a shocked gasp through Jungkook’s headset and, as the dust settles, he turns to see your health bar is dangerously low.
“Oh!” he shouts, pulling up his inventory. “Let me grab a health potion! You can have it—,”
“Alright, now I’m pissed,” you interrupt, sidling up to the fountain with measured steps. You consult your inventory and heave a sigh. It seems like you’re mulling something over, but it’s impossible for Jungkook to know what exactly is on your mind. “Use your health potion, Saph!”
He stares at the back of your character’s head, at the capable set of its shoulders. And he feels somehow like he’s really looking at you. The real you. Silhouetted against grey smoke, with a dark mage glowing black and orange in the air above you, he can’t help but think you seem…really cool.
He recalls what you said before. That he has a team of people who have his back.
You grumble something under your breath before deftly swinging your staff around a few times and launching a powerful icy blast toward the mage. She cries out and before she can ready another spell, you’re hurling another ball her way.
“Whoa! Nova, how’re you doing that so fast?” he asks.
“Shut up and heal now!” you shout, and he’s quick to oblige.
You send another blast toward the mage’s chest, and it’s just enough to get her in melee range. But as you do, the staff you’re holding shatters and breaks into shards. The force of the break seems to have some kickback, and you take a few points of damage as you stumble back half a step. You’re down to your very last HP.
“Oh my God! Did it break?” Jungkook asks, stunned.
“Go hit her!” you bark.
Jungkook sends his character rushing the mage once more and gets in a few heavy hits with his sword, pressing furiously on the controllers and moving his arms about wildly in his chair.
He expects her to fly back into the air. Rinse and repeat until she’s finally dead. But this time, perhaps since she’s so low on health, the dark mage simply hovers in front of him. Quickly, she swings her staff back and rears it forward once more, the black orb embedded in the top glowing red.
“She’s gonna hit you!” you shout, and in his shock Jungkook can only turn to look at your character.
Before he can blink, however, you’ve blurred in front of him in a flash of white hair and when the dark mage deals a mighty, close-ranged fire attack, you take it straight to the stomach.
And just like that, your character blinks out of existence, spilling your entire unequipped inventory on the steaming cobblestones in front of Jungkook’s steel shoes.
“Nova?” he calls out, but of course you can’t answer. You’ve warped back to the nearest infirmary somewhere past the woods.
He curses underneath his breath and swings his sword a little wild once, twice, three times until, at last, the dark mage lay prone on the ground, wailing ghostly. She lets out one final scream before withering into pixels. And there, beside your lost inventory, is a canvas loot bag. Jungkook grabs it and pulls from inside a multi chrome shard, glinting in the light refracted through smoke. He examines it. There’s no doubt. It’s a Philosopher’s Stone fragment. Which means your hunch was right.
It also means your party it one step closer to completing the legendary stone, receiving more gold than any of you could ever spend, maxed out HP, and a permanent plaque in Central Square with all of your usernames.
Jungkook sighs as he puts it away in his inventory. He scans through the other loot. A crossbow, some alchemical herbs, and an Imperial Knight’s sword. He pockets everything and, pausing to save, immediately logs off and yanks the headset from his eyes. He drops his controllers, removes his gloves, and sets the sensor jacket aside as he reaches for his phone on his studio desk.
He types in your name in his contact list and calls you right away. Lucky for him, you answer on the second ring.
“Did you get her?” you ask, not sparing even a moment for hellos.
Jungkook stutters a little like an old engine firing up before replying, “Dude what the hell did you do that for?”
You sigh. “I figured you’d have a better shot killing her since I broke my staff.”
“Yeah, but why'd you break your staff?”
“How else were we gonna get her down?”
Jungkook is quiet for a moment. “You spent a long time crafting that, didn’t you?”
You hum. “Not too long.”
“Liar,” he says, but you don’t reply. After a few moments of silence, Jungkook sighs. “I got her.”
He hears you laugh through the phone, followed by a satisfied exhale. “Hell yeah! Then it was worth it.”
“I got the fragment too.”
“She had it!”
Jungkook can’t help but smile a little, staring at his computer screensaver. “Mhm,” he says. “Thanks for taking the hit. I would’ve dropped the first fragment if she’d gotten me.”
You pause. “Oh, you had the first fragment on you?” you ask.
And Jungkook realizes something crucial as the words come crackly through his phone. You didn’t know he was holding it. You didn’t know he could have lost it. You’d jumped in front of that mage not to save the fragment in Jungkook’s inventory, but to save him. He swallows hard, because the silly, stupid sentiment of it makes his eyes a little misty.
“Um…yeah, I did,” Jungkook says slowly, as if testing cold waters.
You sigh. “Why’d you go on your own anyway?”
Jungkook’s shoulders pinch like he’s been struck. Truthfully, he’d logged on after a particularly frustrating call with Seokjin. After begging his manager to let him out of his contract with IJBC, Jungkook had been forced not only to continue working with Director Lim, but to keep good behavior lest the company seize their promotions of his previous album. But after chatting with you, Jungkook’s work is the furthest thing from his mind.
“Um…some issues with my work were getting to me so I figured I’d scout around a little,” he says. “Sorry I didn’t wait for you guys to tell me not to go.”
You laugh. “Turned out okay in the end,” you say easily. “But…your work?”
“Yeah…”
You’re quiet for a moment. While the silence isn’t awkward, it certainly feels thoughtful. “You don’t talk much about your job, so…I guess I was just curious. Like…what sort of issues…,” you continue, voice trailing off.
Jungkook thinks for a moment. What can he safely share without divulging too much? “Um, it’s…like this guy I’m working for is just kind of a dick,” he says, nodding once. “He’s awful to the employees and he’s been firing staff who piss him off. Just the other day he almost fired two people because they ran into me.”
“Oh?” you say, pensive. “So you’re pretty high up then?” you start, then let out a soft grunt and a laugh. “Sorry, I’m prying. Um…he sounds awful. It’s been bothering you working for him?”
Jungkook nods and picks at the skin around his thumb. “Yeah,” he says. “It’s only for a few months, but if it’s this bad after only a few days I don’t really know what to expect. I’m thinking about quitting somehow.”
“Well,” you begin, and Jungkook can hear the sound of things shuffling on the other side of the phone. “Here’s how I see it. If you quit, that’s one less person looking out for the people below you, you know?”
“Hm?”
“Like…if you’re there, maybe you can do some good and prevent other people from getting fired. But if you’re gone, you can’t really help anyone,” you say, then sigh. “I dunno. Just…if you’re forced to work with the guy, I figure you can try to find a way to turn it around. Maybe make things better for the people under you.”
Jungkook is quiet for a long, pregnant moment. He lets your words seep into his skin like a plant photosynthesizing. He really chews on them. “I…I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”
You hum. “It’s okay. I can understand how working with someone like that would be really hard,” you say. “But…imagine how hard it is for the people who can’t just up and leave? The folks who have to sit there and take it and don’t have the option to quit, you know?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, brows furrowing. He crosses his arms. “That’s true.”
“I mean, obviously you’re an adult and can do whatever you want, but…I dunno, I guess it would be pretty cool of you to stick around and try to help where you can,” you say. Before Jungkook can respond, however, you gasp. “Oh! I got a text from a client.”
“Oh? Who?” he asks.
“Ah, a woman named Kim Hyejin. She works for some entertainment company or something,” you say, and Jungkook’s blood runs cold.
Kim Hyejin. As in Rooftop Entertainment’s Kim Hyejin? As in Jungkook’s manager’s boss? The reason Jungkook can’t quit? He shakes his head, swallows the lump that’s growing in his throat, tries to silence the incessant thumping in his heart. It can’t be her, right? Surely not. But…really, how many Kim Hyejin’s work for ‘some entertainment company’ and require personal makeup artists? Even if the name is common, that’s just too sensational.
“O-Oh…um…is she the client you saw this morning?” Jungkook asks, but his mouth feels cottony. If you, of all people, were to somehow find out about him…
He shakes his head to clear it.
“Mhm, hold on a sec I’m trying to read it,” you say.
Jungkook doesn’t want to hold on. He doesn’t want to sit and wait for you to answer. He wants to end the call and throw his phone on the futon. He wants to take a long walk around the company building. He wants to delete his Arcana account.
But something keeps him on the line, like a string wrapped around his chest. He’s captive to your every word, desperate to know what Kim Hyejin has to say to you. Has she perhaps found out about Jungkook’s online friends? About the Beast Slayers? About you? Is she reaching out to make you sign an NDA? Did she approach you under the pretense of getting her makeup done only to lure you into accepting some sort of bribe to keep his identity secret?
Is she going to force you to stop contacting him…?
“Holy shit,” you say under your breath.
“What? What is it?” Jungkook says, too quick, too breathless.
You scoff. “Holy shit.”
“Please tell me,” he begs, voice frail. His hands are shaking.
Just when he’s found a group of people who he can connect with, who he can play with, who he can feel comfortable with, something has to come in and ruin it. Jungkook’s heart aches with the dread of anticipation.
“Dude,” you begin, but he can tell you’re smiling. “She just offered me a job on a TV show.”
Jungkook feels that same chill from before creeping up his spine like frost across a windowpane. “What show?” he asks.
If not a premeditated approach, then this has to be…
“Give Up Generation.”
Some sort of divine joke.
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