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#i also never have to see my ex-friends (emphasis on the ex) ever again! very pleased!
bayoucurse · 2 years
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so. long story short my roommates got us evicted and im moving to a new apartment next weekend by myself and im kinda excited to be able to decorate it how i want to and have my own space and not have to worry about wearing pants 
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i-am-a-fan · 9 months
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Any Tang thoughts? 👀
YES!! Forgive me for taking forever to respond, I literally was brewing my thoughts together.
Summary: I believe that Tang is the most similar to his reincarnation, judging by what I've read in JTTW, and also he has the coolest ability.
Okay, let me start off by saying that initially, I did not like Tang. I felt like his character didn't mesh well with the group's dynamic and he just felt out of place. Since then, I am now a big Tang fan. While his character dynamic still feels a bit wonky, I love how in season 3 and season 4 he slowly gets more of an emphasis.
The reason I believe that Tang is most like his counterpart in JTTW is that although Tripitaka is very knowledgeable, he will usually insult the people who work so hard to protect him. In JTTW, Tripitaka is also noted to have trouble walking, which tang is something that Tang also struggles with. (Although, Tang might have been faking it.)
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Although, I believe that Tang's weak ankles are referenced again in season 4, so I don't think he's faking it. WHICH LEADS ME TO THE POINT OF THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A WALKING CANE THAT TURNS INTO HIS STAFF LATER ON. (Missed opportunity if you ask me.)
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Tang also has the uncanny ability to interact with the fourth wall, my favorite being when he says "Oh I see that Sandy is in this episode." In Season 2, Episode 8. I have no idea if the gif will work, but Tang can be seen looking straight at the viewer when Sandy mentions the plot convenience of the flower's bloom.
Honestly? I would love it if Tang has this ability due to the powers of his reincarnation.
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I MEAN LOOK. No one else can see the golden cicadas that literally tell Tang how to move the plot along. There is literally a built-in Deus ex-Machina power that only Tang is actually able to see. If we ever get an episode from Tang's POV, I really hope they address the cicadas. Also, Tang is the only one who gets to interact with one of his previous reincarnations outside of the scroll, which must be super weird. Then you also have the weird plot contradiction that Tang should NOT be the reincarnation of Tripitaka if he completed the journey to the West, because doing the journey should have freed him from the cycle of reincarnation. But, it's a Lego show, so I am not going to fight it.
Also, I think his characterization is perfect. I mean imagine you are 40ish years old, an english major, and have no physical skills. Now also imagine you are best friends with a 6ft pro-wrestler, a man who can crush you with his bare hands, and two people half your age. Then suddenly, those people who are half your age become more powerful than you could ever comprehend. Yeah, I can see why Tang would never get worried about being hurt or putting in effort. However, that also is going to do horrible things to your self-esteem. Tang did not any powers until about the end of season 3, and even then his powers are only really used in season 4.
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WHICH IS WHY THIS SCENE IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME. Instead of falling victim to an inferiority complex, Tang knows his strengths and knows that he has a good family. I'm going to be so honest with you all, I think this episode was where I started to like Tang. He doesn't even have powers here, he is simply a man who loves his family.
I've already talked so much, but I just really love Tang and I hope he gets actual characterization throughout season 5.
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mikajihiko · 1 year
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Given Mix_20 Thoughts! Can I just say my respect for Ue has increased drastically, how drastic it already was in a way I thought it couldnt get any bigger than this, but it did, and heres why! When Hiragi first reached out the Rikka, he only ever requested Ritsuka to finish the song (yes Hiragi forced him to actually do it butsdkjasd) He never said Ritsuka should follow Yuki's sound, everything else was on Ritsuka. Even Hiragi was surprised when he heard
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To make it clear, its not because of Hiragi forcing him that made him want to do this song, we all know Ritsuka has no problem saying 'No'; the real reason I’ll tackle later on. But, the reason he didnt want to do it was because of the emotional weight he felt when listening to Yuki's song
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Sure, first it was uncomfortable by the mere fact that it was Yuki- Mafuyu's ex and shizuragi's childhood friend. Most especially, especially after feeling the remnants of Yuki's emotions, especially when he knows how Yuki passed away, it would’ve made anyone want to quit
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But again, that didnt stop him, instead it propelled him further! Mix_20 gave emphasis on the reason as to why and it’s because Ritsuka wanted to not only to give closure to Mafuyu. He also brought it onto himself to give these grieving childhood friends some closure despite it not being his responsibility, and he was very aware that it wasnt. But, he saw an opportunity to do good to others and took it. It was emotionally tolling for him, yes, but not because he was forced to make music, BUT because he wanted to do give his all as someone who is a perfectionist; He wanted his gift to be perfect
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And thats not the only thing that amazes me, he also showes respect towards Yuki's music by saying he was GLAD to have listened to Yuki's song (あの曲をみつけられて 良かった). And he turns the stressful experience into something positive, saying he feels very much personally fulfilled about not only being helpful to others, but as well as a self-accomplishment by seeing the proof of his own capabilities. (「ここまで やれる」 それが証明できた. 今は、それが満足だ ) Mix_20
Ritsuka could’ve chosen to be selfish. Just like how initially, he had made the 2nd part of Yuki's song to sound like him, as he was responsible to finish the second half- a change Hiragi noticed (mix_9). This was when Ue felt like shifting priorities to reaching Mafuyu
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The shift of knowing that Mafuyu had been feeling lonely all those times. Reading Mix_14, surely everyone understands the external pressure added on to Ritsuka as well- guilt of having fun with another band while leaving his own, slowly losing himself in this heavy process. But the message of Ritsuka's story here isnt negative- it’s showing how feeling down and anxious during stressful events is a normal thing, that everyone needs help and deep thinking for them to align themselves.
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And of course because of this, Ritsuka got back on his feet as the strong person he is. Not letting the anxiety get to him, and got back to doing things his own stubborn way (affectionate). He lets go of selfishness, knowing with all confidence that his own skills can pull Mafuyu.
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And so he did, and this sense of accomplishment he feels washing over him during the end of SYH debut, knowing well he has not only accomplished his goals of pulling Mafuyu but also made Hiragi shine, gave closure to those close to Yuki, and had proven himself to be capable! All the shocked faces coming from Shizuragi really make me laugh. Never would they have thought of Ue to be someone as selfless and giving, but that truly is him. Someone so kind and generous with confidence and power- "fundamentally a good guy"🙈💖
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EDIT: I fixed some grammar and punctuation-ings 😭 I wrote it while moved by strong emotions, it was crazy! Needless to say, Im very proud of Ritsuka and I dont think I have the words to fully express myself. I hope this blog can emit even a bit of that feeling!
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spaceorphan18 · 1 year
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Glee Musical Retrospective: Smile (Mattress)
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Sung by: Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson Original Artist(s): Lily Allen
Like how Hairography had a theme (distracted!!) Mattress also has one as well -- 'smile'. I think this episode, however, does a better job of integrating the theme into the story and not hitting you over the head with it. The thing about the whole 'smile' theme, though, is that it's the idea of smiling as a façade over the darker emotions going on.
The thing about this song, though, it's also a façade; albeit possibly unintentionally? On the outside, it's a nice, flirty Finchel duet. But have you guys ever actually listened to the lyrics? It's about reveling in your ex's misery. I'm totally going to try to make the case that this song really should have been a Quinn song...
Story Analysis
So - the whole point of this scene was Rachel trying to teach Finn how to smile better for the yearbook photo. And... you know what? It's kind of a cute scene on its own. Rachel is, somewhat, uncharacteristically happy during it (it feels very Lea-ish, or at least post-Season 4 Rachel) and yes that's part of the schtick, but I think the genuine flirtatiousness of the song kinda makes Finchel sweet. Finn is adorable in his awkwardness, and then he kind of loosens up and goes along with Rachel. It's honestly, kind of sweet, and I feel like showcases their actual chemistry for once. (As I'm of the mind that Finchel is going to feel so forced in the future.)
But the thing about the song is that it's sooooo not about just general happiness and flirtatiousness. This song is about being happy that your ex is a groveling, dribbling mess and really not giving a shit. And -- I just can't make it work for Finchel.
I suppose you can argue that Rachel can be overdramatic - and want to think herself being better than petty relationship drama. But even as Rachel will go on to do some truly batshit crazy things (does it get any worse than Sunshine and the crackhouse?) she doesn't really pull this stuff with Finn. Nor, I'd argue, would she actually be happy to see him sad or upset.
The reason this song is misleading, really, is the fact that the song makes such an emphasis on the word 'smile'. So as Finn and Rachel are dancing around singing about smiling -- you kind of get wrapped up in the fun beat and the cheery melody and the word smile, and can easily miss the fact that this song is really vindictive.
As I was going over this one in preparation, though, it occurred to me that this would be a perfect song for Quinn.
When you first left me I was wanting more You were kissing that girl next door What you do that for? (What you do that for?)
Quinn being pissed off that she was dumped for Rachel -- um, yes, she was upset about that on multiple occasions.
I never been on my (own that way) Just sat by my(self all day)
Who defines herself by the relationships she has with men? Why that's Quinn.
(Oh!) I was so lost back then (Oh!) But with a little help from my friends (Oh!) I found a light in the tunnel at the end (Oh!) (Oh!) Now you're calling me up on the phone (Oh!) So you can have a little whine and a moan (Oh!) And it's only because you're feeling alone (Oh!)
The first time I really listened to the lyrics I was like - whoa, those some dirty lyrics. But, again, Quinn would think this way -- I can totally see her talking like this.
At worst, (I feel bad for awhile) (But then I just smile, I go ahead and smile)
This is the real deal sealer for me, though. Because Quinn is all about the façade - and all about trying to present as this perfect, in control person. She will just smile and cover up any emotions she has to save face. She'd also does not really care about your pain. She's too busy dealing with her own to have pity or sympathy for someone who has screwed her over.
Plus - I feel like this song should be sung with a real sense of sarcasm and edge to give it that ironic sound. This song plays it straight, but I think a Quinn version would have added those darker qualities.
Really -- they should have had Quinn scowling in the background of this number and it would have felt perfect.
Technical Thoughts
First thing to get out of the way is, yes, I know they changed the lyrics. The original lyrics say *fucking* the girl next door instead of kissing. It's a network tv show about high school students, so I'm not surprised - but also, that would have taken you completely out of the Finchel love fest they were going for.
So. Here's my thing - Rachel sounds fine on it. But the song itself was put through some kind of filter. Was it autotune? Was it some other kind of electronic something? I have no idea what exactly -- but the sound feels /off/ -- too mechanical and produced. And this is one of the few times on the show that I can feel that they're lip synching. Especially at the beginning. Glee usually does better at integrating pre-recorded song with the performance, but this isn't one of their better attempts. Ah well.
Meanwhile, Finn sounds alright. At times, it's a little too high - and it feels forced. But, in general, Cory Monteith sounds better overall than he has in previous numbers - and when he and Lea are singing together, I have no complaints. It's a catchy little tune, and the scene is very sweet.
vs. The Studio Version: There's a little more of an introduction and they include the second verse, but that's pretty much it. It's a solid song though.
vs. The Original Version: So. Glee's arrangement is more or less the same as the original song. Lily Allen's voice is a bit grittier and a little less produced (sorry Lea - you're still good on the Glee track.)
The thing though, wow, this video. It really showcases the duality of song -- being a happy, bubbly sound song, but the singer is out for blood and shows no mercy. There's a lot more going on than the music would outwardly suggest. (Secret Quinn Solo)
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leeknowsredeyeliner · 3 years
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lockers and exes - nakamoto yuta
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nakamoto yuta x fem reader
summary: your first day of school since the pandemic but this time, with your boyfriend, yuta... and a few appearances from your exes.
genre: slice of life, fluff !!!, suggestive
word count: 1.2k+
warning: yuta is dirty minded
note: hi !! it’s been a month since i last wrote but i wanted to put something out there. this is just yuta being cute with his reader gf :)
second note: i don’t write for nct but this gave me yuta vibes so here we are. now enjoy haha
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ring ring ring
“are you at school yet? or did you sleep through your alarms?”
“well, good morning to you too, yuta. i’m running to the lockers as we speak,” you lie as you trudge through the main floor of the school.
“you’re the worst liar ever. you’re a panting mess if you do so much as speed walk.” he’s not wrong whatsoever, you’re completely out of shape. then again, you were never in shape to begin with. “and a breathing mess in other situations,” he teases with an emphasis on the word ‘other’. his smirk is basically visible through the phone.
“okay then, asshole. well, you wouldn’t want me to damage my pretty face walking up the stairs. would you?” you half joke. yuta loves your pretty face but wouldn’t mind seeing you hurt yourself. just for his own entertainment.
“i mean, i guess you’re right. just hurry please. these juniors are scary.” you chuckle at the decrease in volume as he speaks in a hushed tone.
“shouldn’t they be the ones scared?” you respond at a similar tone, mocking him. “you’re a senior. and everyone’s scared of seniors.”
“for some odd reason,” you wanted to add.
seniors are just a group of students a year above juniors. simple as that. what’s so threatening about them?
“but there’s like a hundred of them and only one of me. they could jump me, y/n!” yuta’s cute, paranoid side shows through his voice.
“you, sir, are being very dramatic. now, bye!” you press the big red button before yuta could retaliate.
you peek over the rows of lockers before you, in search of yuta. once you spot him standing in the aisle of your locker, you speed walk over. his back is facing you so you decide to greet him in a special way.
your fingers zap the sides of his torso and he jumps up in shock. he gets a hold of your wrists before you back away and wraps your arms around him, your chest flushed up against his backpack.
yuta spins you around to face him, “hi there.”
“oh! hey,” you joke with him as if you hadn’t noticed who he was.
you smile at him, adoring his face despite the mask. his eyes are your favorite feature of his anyways — right next to his pearly whites. you haven’t seen yuta face to face since you started dating during quarantine. the only times you’d see his beautifully sculptured face was over a facetime call and random selfies he’d send with his dad or sisters.
while unlocking your locker, yuta leans against the locker beside yours as he admires you. the way you fix your hair after bending down to turn the locker’s dial. the way you lift the bottom of your mask to breathe a bit more comfortably. the way you bob your head to the music playing in your head. the way you look up at him after feeling his eyes on you.
“what are you looking at?” you question in a bit of a teasing tone.
“you, of course.”
you move around your locker’s door, over to yuta. your hand makes it’s way to his hair to play with it.
“i’m glad you’re you, yuta,” your other hand resting on his chest.
“that’s the sweetest thing you’ve said to me,” he purred. he waits for you to explain what you mean, whether it be a joke or more praising.
“um, excuse me,” a voice calls from behind you. “i need to get to my locker.” he explains further with just a point of his finger. his finger pointing towards yuta.
you know ten’s locker is beside yours. it was hard to ignore the fact during your freshman year. him being your ex and all.
though, it shouldn’t count if you were 10 and 11 years old and in elementary school.
it is odd how he continuously speaks about you as if you’re still friends. he moved abroad to germany for two years then came back bragging to people about how he dated you.
now, facing him is awkward. he has no clue you know about the things he’s said about you.
“my bad, dude.” yuta excuses himself and moves over to a locker across from yours, his view being just your back now.
you briefly put away a few of your belongings before turning to yuta. “was that the fifth grade ex?” he questions. you threaten him with your eyes. ten’s just a few feet away from you and could easily eavesdrop on your conversation.
rather than verbally shutting him up, you put a finger up to your masked lips, followed by a slight nod.
“are you driving me home after school?”
“only after a quick little date, pretty girl,” his eyes crinkle and you wish you could see the smile on his face.
“pretty girl?” you suddenly blurted out. “you haven’t seen my face yet.”
“i don’t need to see your face to know how pretty my girlfriend is.” his words are so smooth leaving his mouth, you wonder how he comes up with what to say. especially how he knows the right words to say because they always make your heart flutter. “but you’re right. i should have a look at your face before classes start. for a little motivation to get myself through the day.”
he pulls down your mask, with your consent, enough to sneak a peek at your face. and he’s met with your tongue poking out your mouth in a playful manner, bringing a chuckle out of the boy before you.
“as expected, a pretty girl.” the softness of his voice drops, “my pretty girl.” he then lands a slap to your cheek. not to the point where he’d hurt you but enough that you can feel a slight burning sensation.
“come on,” you whine. “not in public,” you say with embarrassment, fiddling with his hand. you aren’t actually complaining, you both know you enjoyed it.
“excuse me, guys,” a voice interrupts from beside you and yuta. “i need to open my locker. could you move a bit?”
you pull yuta a bit to the side, a bit distraught.
because what the fuck is this? a reunion of the exes?
this time, it’s your ex best friend, doyoung. who also happens to be your ex ‘almost’. but better known as, ‘traitor’ or ‘liar’.
he’s someone that should never be associated with. but it worries you that him and yuta would oddly get along if doyoung pushed his fake friendly act towards him.
“what’s on your mind, pretty girl?”
“nothing important,” you smile behind your mask.
“by the way.” he slings one backpack strap off and unzips the smaller pocket. “i doubt you had breakfast so here.” a banana. he pulls out a banana.
“i feel like there’s a catch,” you mutter, anticipating for what could leave his mouth. yuta has a filthy mind and never fails to express his feelings or thoughts. and of course you’d know, he’s rubbed off on you for too long.
it wouldn’t be a problem if doyoung weren’t standing a foot away.
“look at you, pretty girl. you’re so sma-”
you immediately cut him off, “just tell me what it is, nakamoto.”
“i have to watch you eat it, of course.”
a filthy mind indeed.
an abrupt cough comes from next to you. looking over, doyoung’s holding a water bottle and coughing uncontrollably. his fist hitting his chest repeatedly to help himself.
“you are never coming back to my locker.”
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hxseok-honee · 3 years
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sundress || part 5
written portion under the cut!
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sundress [part 5] || stalker behavior
previous || masterlist || next
a/n : [it’s crazy what you do for a friend] daddy issues x the neighbourhood
taglist [open] : @deepseavibez @thetrueghostqueen @reddeathraven @dingzerenistall @skyrro @unadulteratedlyunique @ramyagovindraj @itismochirice @wwhseokjin @drpepperobsessed @monamone @thekookiecorner @army-moa75 @burningupp-replies @lele-bb @pb-n-juju @red-kebab @heonsbebe @peachyyoongs @superloverpielamp @marifujioka @butterflylion @heyitsgigi @lochness-butmakeitsexy @miki-chi @cahowlkook @worshiphoseok @lilacdreams-00 @bongsbeforebibles @miriamxsworld @oasiswithmyg @peonyplace @annewrighthglc @calling-dips-on-j-hope @yoongiofmine @loveyoongles @instantspot @missmadwoman @x-xjaeminx-x @luvtaeha @vanillxangxl @renhold-nightspear @taeshuworld
___________________________
Friday, 17 September, 8:12pm
“What. Did. You. Do?!” Yoongi winces as Y/n slams her Herbology textbook into his shoulder yet again for a total of four smacks, one for emphasis on each of her words. Her phone sits on the table in front of them, open to the text thread with Jungkook, her last messages reading--
Because I’m dating Yoongi now, okay?? So leave me alone already.
He’d arrived not even 30 seconds ago, crossing the room to reach Y/n. Her back had been to him, so he’d seen the text thread between her and Jungkook, her ex's messages crystal clear as he read over her shoulder. Without a word to her, Yoongi had plucked her phone from her hand and started typing, Y/n unable to see what he’d been doing until he’d set her phone down on the table, the damage done with those few little lines. Now, he’s paying for his idiocy in the form of a very angry Gryffindor.
Across the table from them sits Jung Hoseok, sipping at his butterbeer with wide eyes, awkward and unsure if he should be here right now -- but Y/n isn’t even looking at him. She’s too busy staring at the side of Yoongi’s face, her own expression enraged as she points down at her phone.
“In what world was it okay to take my phone and say we’re dating?! How are we supposed to undo that?!” The Slytherin won’t look at her, only staring down at the table with a guilty smile on his face as he attempts a response.
“We… can’t?”
“We can’t!” He flinches at her explosion, entirely deserved. He turns slowly to face her, looking not unlike a scolded puppy.
“At least now… that he thinks you’re with someone… he’ll stop bothering you?” As if by some cruel joke, Y/n’s phone immediately starts ringing, Jungkook’s name flashing back at them. Yoongi can only groan, dropping his head into his hands as Y/n stands from the bar stool, a noise of frustration leaving her.
“Yoongi! This is somehow the one situation in which letting you do whatever you want has made things worse!” Yoongi slides off of his own seat, following her around the kitchen as she paces.
“Okay, I see how this might look bad, but I promise my heart was in the right place!” She stops short, turning to look at him with a deadpan expression.
“Yeah? And what exactly happened in your heart-to-brain-to-mouth filter that fucked everything up?” They take to glaring at each other now, knowing that they need to stop talking before things escalate -- after all, they’re both in the wrong here. Y/n for being too hard on Yoongi when he’d just wanted to help, and Yoongi for acting recklessly in the first place. But neither of them wants to admit it, both annoyed. The only thing that cuts the tension is Hoseok, who’s reached the end of his drink and is sipping loudly through his straw. He looks up when they turn to him, smiling sheepishly with an awkward giggle.
“Maybe I should… let you guys talk?” Yoongi sighs and looks down at his feet, hands on his hips, while Y/n shakes her head at Hoseok.
“It’s okay, we’re done fighting… I think...?” She looks to Yoongi then, who’s frowning slightly at her from where he stands. They don’t say a word for a moment, Yoongi finally dropping his hands and crossing the distance to her, his frown becoming a full-on pout when he grabs at her shoulders.
“Y/n… I’m sorry I acted stupid and sent that text without your permission. I didn't mean to make a mess of everything, but you’re right to be mad anyway.” Y/n sighs, matching Yoongi and lifting her hands to his shoulders. She’s sure that, from where Hoseok sits, they must look pretty stupid.
“Yoongi… I’m sorry I insulted your heart-to-brain-to-mouth filter. I know you were just trying to fix things… I shouldn’t have been mean to you.” They keep eye contact for just a second longer, both nodding simultaneously and dropping their arms when they’re satisfied with the mutual apologies.
“… That was the most impressive form of efficient communication I’ve ever seen!” Hoseok’s looking between them with wide eyes, a smile on his face as he spins slowly in his bar stool. Yoongi snorts, remembering just how long it had taken them to perfect their open communication method, and he mumbles a half-hearted response.
“Years of practice will do that for you.” Y/n nods in agreement before she’s turning to the table, her phone lighting up in yet another call from Jungkook. A groan leaves her, and she looks to Yoongi, who’s also staring at her phone, eyes guilty. He glances over when she turns to him, a sigh on his lips.
“Okay, look. He’s been bothering you for weeks, Y/n. After everything you’ve been through -- after all that time and work you put in to get over this fucking asshole, he won’t leave you alone! It was infuriating, so I… I don’t know, I felt like I had to do something…” Y/n’s gone back to the table while he’s been talking, and she’s watching him with resignation from where she sits. She knows exactly why he’d done it -- she had told him over the summer that he wouldn’t be allowed to start problems with Jungkook. All she wants is for their friend group to return to normal, and that would never be possible if Yoongi’s looking for reasons to start a fight with the Gryffindor.
They’d both assumed Jungkook would leave her alone and maybe even avoid her this year. They certainly hadn’t been expecting this relentless torture, constant texting and calling, and she knows Yoongi’s been getting irritated. She knows how protective he is, and he had seen what a mess she’d been this summer, so of course he’s angry. She’s angry.
So even though she hadn’t expected Yoongi to go this far, she should have known he would break eventually. But if he’s not allowed to openly prevent Jungkook from contacting her with threats or aggression, he’d do the next best thing -- he would get in Jeon Jungkook’s way. And what better way to put a wall between Jungkook and Y/n than becoming that wall? After all, Jungkook can’t have her if she’s already taken.
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stellocchia · 3 years
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I really liked Wilbur's lore stream from yesterday, so you guys are getting a short stream analysis from me
As always dialogue is color-coded: Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo
And since I'm the least concise person ever everything is under the cut
The stream is (DSMP LORE) A Year Later
The stream starts with Wilbur singing the L'Manburg anthem to Ranboo. It is interesting to notice that, just like all the streams since he's been back he doesn't start off the stream by addressing chat in any way but already taking with someone in-universe.
"I'm a big big fan of the song (...) (Wilbur notices that Ranboo was muted) so sorry, let's try again: have you heard that song before?" "Yeah I have, I have. I have- I've had a friend that sings it quite a lot" “Good, good, and I was gonna say, it’s obviously based on Hallelujah right? But the thing is, the thing is Ranboo, right? But the thing is- the thing is Ranboo, right? Is that the reason we did it is because Tommy used to sing Hallelujah to the plants" "Oh, to the plants?" "Yeah! In- in the- around the- around the uhm... around the thing! You know the- the caravan? (...) so, my man, Tommy used to sing to the plants to make them grow better and that was the song he used to sing and so I thought what a way to honour Tommy, you know, one of the most- one of the most loyal members or of our fair nation than by naming the song after him, you know? And singing it based on his little- his little Muse. Tommy is a- Tommy is all of our Muse really I'd say"
I cut as much of this quote as I could while still leaving it well understandable and leaving in everything I wanted to talk about, but man is it long... So let's break it down a bit at a time:
1) The friend that Ranboo referenced that sings the anthem a lot is most likely Tubbo considering that they met him later on in this stream while he was singing that very song
2) The memory of the song seems to still be a particularly pleasant one for Wilbur, which probably explains why Ghostbur as well was so fond of it. He speaks about it positively throughout and it generally seems like an overall positive moment of reminiscence, probably because it's a callback to a simpler time when Wilbur too was, you know, happier overall. It's a reminder of a time before the worsening of his spiral.
3) Also interesting that they kept it in canon that Tommy singing to the plants was what inspired the anthem. Especially because I'm not entirely sure if that's the case considering that the actual anthem wasn't written by cc!Wilbur but by a fan upon his request (obviously this is outside the story).
4) Last thing I wanted to mention was Wilbur describing Tommy as a Muse. Muses in mythology are the inspirational goddesses of the arts, music, and science, Tommy aside from the anthem obviously isn't that. But it is interesting that Tommy does take a central role when it comes to motivating people. We could say that Techno's speech on the 16th was inspired by him since it was directed at him. Similarly, Niki and Jack had their arcs revolving around him. Tommy was able to rally the troops with ease multiple times. And Dream's obsession with him itself is the main motivator for, like, 90% of his actions. So, while he may not cover the role of a muse literally it's not a comparison that is too far off...
They headed to the museum afterward and took notice of the Ranboo poster being missing. And then they headed off to L'Manburg (which, by the way, looks amazing, thank you cc!Phil for that one).
"It goes by L'Manhole now apparently" "I- yeah it's kinda- ugh- I'm not a fan. It's kinda rude to L'Manburg's history, you know? It- it's called L'Manburg. It's called L'Manburg. NOT Manberg, not L'Crater or whatever. L'Manhole, I don't care, it's now L'Manburg, it's always L'Manburg, okay?"
It's interesting that not too long ago he was saying that even L'Manburg itself (with an emphasis on the name) wasn't what was actually important, the purpose of it was. He admits later on that he lied in that conversation, but it's impressive how quickly he trusted Ranboo enough to let him see how much he still cared about L'Manburg when he was so intent on lying about it not too long ago.
Wilbur's enthusiasm about seeing the flag is another nice confirmation about him still caring deeply for his old nation.
"Damn, I really went down to bedrock, didn't I? Holy shit I did- I did a number on this place" (I wonder why Ranboo didn't correct him on this, because Ranboo knows that Techno, Phil, and Dream are the ones who actually exploded the country down to bedrock...)
They end up seeing Tubbo on the other side of the crater and head over to him. While they're heading there Tubbo is singing the anthem himself in a very mournful tone.
One interesting thing that I noticed it's that it's Wilbur that heads towards Tubbo's location instead of having Tubbo go to him like he mostly did with Tommy for example. I suppose it could be because Tubbo having been a president himself is in less of a subordinate position to Wilbur than Tommy who's always been a simple soldier.
"It's like looking in a little mirror, look you're wearing my suit still? How long have you been wearing that?" "Oh I just put it on, just for today" (in a similar fashion to Jack bringing out the L'Manburg uniform to reminisce, Tubbo also brought out clothes he strongly attaches the memory of L'Manburg to)
"Ranboo have you met Tubbo?" "Yeah, yeah. I've- I've met him, I mean we've, uhm... we've been around" (Ranboo still minimizing his relationship with Tubbo to Wilbur. Of course, this is because he doesn't trust him but it's interesting that he isn't even honest about that)
After a bit of back and forth, Wilbur starts apologizing to Tubbo. At first, like most other times he's having a serious discussion he puts himself in an elevated position to tower over Tubbo. It's a neat way to show how his own desire for control affects him, having Wilbur literally elevate himself over others when speaking to them. Literally putting Tubbo down in this situation. Which does make the beginning of his apology very obviously feel insincere.
"I'm sorry for making you president specifically before blowing it up and I'm sorry for when I did this *pointing at the crater* and blew all this up and making this whole. I'm sorry that I uh- that I said that you were the president of a crater"
This is that first part of the apology I mentioned. Just to clarify, I don't actually think that it was entirely insincere. It just feels less impactful due to Wilbur putting himself in a position of superiority over Tubbo, especially because it's something we've seen him do before. It's also to be noted that this time, like others before, he seems to be apologizing less out of actual guilt and more out of a desire to earn forgiveness. Which is not a critique by the way. I just feel like that's a misconception Wilbur has, that apologies serve the purpose of confirming to him that he's doing a good job at changing more than to actually make amends for what he's done. The reason why I think that's the case for the beginning part of this apology as well it's because of how fast he went to ask tubbo if he forgave him, which did put a certain level of pressure on Tubbo in this situation.
"I mean it wasn't- this wasn't all you Wilbur" (thank you tubbo for finally dispelling some of those misunderstandings)
"Yeah so me and mainly Ghostbur honestly, like-" "Ghostbur" (some more of Wilbur not being too fond of Ghostbur)
"Right is he [Ghostbur] this obsidian crap then I take it and these- these fucking dumb lanterns up here" (a bit more)
To correct Wilbur's misconceptions Tubbo starts off asking if the other knew Dream, to which Wilbur responds with how much he appreciates Dream and how he's his hero, which makes Tubbo backtrack and blames most of Doomsday on Techno and Phil. Which, as we know, isn't actually accurate and I have a feeling that this misinformation will be harmful later on once Dream is out of prison (though I don't blame Tubbo for backtracking with how enthusiastic Wilbur is, that was the basic conflict-avoidant approach that Tubbo seems to prefer).
"They rained tnt for days" (if this is actually canon then Doomsday was even more of a tragedy than we previously saw it as. It was days filled with fighting and destruction. Then again, Tubbo has misremembered traumatizing events before)
"Techno and Phil, they hated the government. I mean it was partially my fault as well" "But you didn't blow it up" "No I didn't. I would never have wished or anything like this to happen" "So it was just Techno and Phil?" *long pause* "Y-yeees"
Two things to say here:
1) I appreciate someone in canon recognizing that it's not Tubbo's fault for what happened to L'Manburg and blaming the people who actually blew it up, similarly to how I appreciate Wilbur bringing up with Tommy that it was clearly Dream pulling the strings with his exile with Tubbo. It's nice having it stated plainly for people to hear
2) This is the misconception I mentioned. This is most certainly gonna backfire at some point.
After that Wilbur commends Tubbo quite a lot for rebuilding New L'Manburg (once again being dismissive towards Ghostbur) and is clearly enthusiastic about it, even going as far as to say that that mattered more to him than them building him a grave.
"I just, I feel lost without L'Manburg. All my core beliefs, everything died with it" "You feel lost without a nation..." "I have no purpose anymore" "I guess that's where anarchy fails" (I think this may be the first time someone admits it to someone else, even though that lack of purpose and feeling disoriented is very obviously a shared sentiment amongst the ex-citizens)
After that, it's when Wilbur invites Tubbo to join Paradise, the, supposedly burger van with a small house attached to it that wasn't supposed to become a nation. I have a feeling that the proposition coming right after that exchange may imply that Wilbur changed his mind on it. He does purposefully put himself again in an elevated position when making the proposition.
"Would you like to come join me in Paradise? Literally" "Hmmm, I'm not sure Wilbur. I'm not sure I trust you man, I need to- in order to follow someone I need to trust them" "Wait, wait but you- I thought you forgave me! I thought it was, you know it-" "Wilbur I forgive you because I like to hang on to the hope that people can change, but-"
This is what I mean when I say that Wilbur's apologies come with expectations for the person he's apologizing to. By asking Tubbo first if he forgave him when he originally apologized, he already made it harder for Tubbo to refute that. And now we learn that he expected trust to come along with forgiveness. He's not doing this maliciously of course, but he does seem to have some misconceptions on this.
"I know you had that- that at the festival? With Technoblade? I never spoke to you properly about this. I- I could have saved you" "But you didn't" (other people brought this up, but this is a neat little parallel to the one scene in exile where Ranboo was lamenting about how he should have gone with Tommy and Tommy shut him down pointing out that anyone could have gone but no one actually did)
There is a second round of apologies and Wilbur is still standing higher than Tubbo, BUT he does put himself on his same level after he did a bit more pushing and found that Tubbo was standing his ground. He finally puts himself on the same level as Tubbo and openly acknowledges his boundaries which is the first actual real effort to change that we've seen from Wilbur. Which I'd say is a pretty important step for him.
"Wilbur in order for you to gain my trust back you have to prove it, I can't just give it out anymore. I used to be able to but I just- I just can't" (acknowledgement of how Tubbo's trauma also affected him deeply)
"You know I still have dreams, right? Of the explosion. And- and of the fireworks. And- and all of it. I- I still- I vividly see all of it. Every day. It hurts. It hurts a lot Wilbur"
I want to commend Tubbo here for being able to open up like this, especially considering how much he generally leans into denial and how much he usually suppress. And on top of that this is Tubbo acknowledging that both Wilbur's actions (the explosion) and Techno's actions (the fireworks) have hurt him and STILL hurt him and affect him deeply. It's quite a big admission especially for him.
"Sorry feels like such a weak word. I feel like there's nothing stronger that I can say" (first time that he's standing on the same level of Tubbo while apologizing)
"You're so strong man. Genuinely. You just- just the fact that you proved to me just there that you have this memories, that you have this nightmares and you still find it in your heart to forgive me. That's... you're a fucking champion man. You- you're a hero"
It's interesting that the reason why he claims Tubbo to be strong here is because he forgave him. It's not something that's inherently about Tubbo, like the fact that he still found the strength to go on and rebuild after the events he mentioned, for example, no. What Wilbur brought up is the one thing that Tubbo did for him. Which tells me that he still clearly has a bit of way to go to learn how to make amends and how redemption actually works, but, you know, that's to be expected honestly.
Wilbur moves on by inviting Tubbo to at least come and see Paradise, just to see what they'd made and Tubbo refuses because he wanted to spend more time reminiscing. Wilbur this time respect Tubbo's boundaries with no pushing which is yet another step forward for him honestly. Wilbur also gives Tubbo a "lucky rabbit's foot" that Tommy gave him to cheer him up and assure him that he had no problems with him not going.
With this their conversation comes to a close and Wilbur and Ranboo head over to Paradise (though not before Ranboo has confirmed with Tubbo that he actually does want to be left alone).
"You know I was gonna say 'this is hard' but obviously it's hard. I mean, you know, I've..." (a bit of reflection on his actions for Wilbur, you love to see it!)
"It's gonna get better! It's gonna get better! And it's gonna be worth it when I see them smiling. All of them. Tubbo, Jack, Niki, Tommy, anyone!" (I'm pretty sure that this is a genuine sentiment right here. It really does seem that wilbur's Big Plan right now is just to make amends and change)
"Do you know who the original L'Manburg group were? Do you know who we were?" "I- I think most of them yeah... I think it was like: you, Jack, Niki, Fundy I believe as well" "Fundy was a bit after. Fundy was after we'd gotten independence"
I wonder if that's an actual misrememberance on Wilbur's part (c!Wilbur, not cc!Wilbur, I'm sure cc!Wilbur remembers this) or just him wanting to put some distance between his good memories of L'Manburg and Fundy. Because Jack and Niki weren't there for the independence war either and yet he singled out Fundy who was. And I doubt that he'd forget about his son being one of the people who lost their first life in the final control room. In addition to that Wilbur didn't mention Fundy before among those he wanted to make smile.
I really think that this was intentional and that it was because, well, Wilbur felt deeply betrayed by Fundy. And we as the audience know that Fundy only ever publicly stopped acknowledging him as his father to be able to stay undercover as a spy, but he doesn't. It wouldn't be so weird that he wanted to erase Fundy from his memories of the time when he was supposed to be happy.
"I try and keep this on the low because I don't want uh- I don't want people to use it against me is the main problem. I do wa- I didn't even tell Tommy, I lied to Tommy" "Yeah?" "I'll be honest I'm gonna tell him soon that I lied to him because if it- it kinda eats away at me. But I told- I told tommy that I didn't actually care about L'Manburg and that it was just like a tool for me to use to gain, you know, power and stuff, but it's not- it's not true. L'Manburg is- was really important to me. And it is still to this day"
Once again I'm surprised how little it took Wilbur to trust Ranboo with stuff he hasn't really told anyone else. Makes you really understand how low of an opinion of himself he has that when the first person that calls him "alright" out loud just gets his undying trust. Especially considering that Ranboo doesn't trust him back and hasn't been the most honset with him so far. It's also a nice spelled out admission for anyone who didn't get how much Wilbur cares about L'Manburg from the longing look he gave to the camaravan's replica in the stream where he said he never cared.
"I wanted history to live on, not as a stain caused by me, you know. I basically took a big shit on the history books it feels like" (just another interesting little insight on Wilbur's view of the situation)
"I've heard about what's Tommy's, you know, moved on... and how jack's moved on, and how Niki's moved on and everyone's moved on from L'Manburg at least partially, but Tubbo man, he's still..." (he only thinks the rest of them moved on because he hasn't spoken almost at all with two of them and he never really listened to Tommy. Also, again, Fundy is not mentioned)
"I don't know where I'd be without you [Ranboo] here right now man, I mean T-Tommy's great and all and he's here but I- I feel like, you know, I don't wanna- I don't wanna string him along too much because he's- I- when I look at him. When I look at him when he's helping me out building things with me I see the same eyes that looked at me when... when... There were some- there weren't some fun times in the ravine of Pogtopia. I wasn't a very well man and I can just see Tommy from that day"
This one was one heck of a confession!
I don't know if this is me misremembering, but I'm fairly sure that this is the first time he's admitted to not being great to Tommy specifically. Again, Tommy is the one person he met with so far that he hasn't apologized to. Heck! He told Tommy to his face that him being sorry for his actions didn't mean he wouldn't do them again. It's a pretty damn big admission to acknowledge that that behaviour (which is the same now, if not worse when only related to Tommy) wasn't good. It also shows that he's at least a bit aware of Tommy's emotions which is rarely shown honestly. Though whether he cares because of Tommy or because being around Tommy makes him feel guilty (which is what you'd expect him to feel) and he doesn't like that is to be determined still, mostly just because the phrasing was a bit uncertain at the moment.
"I know what it's like to have no one- or at least feel like no one trusts you. Uhm, and I- I've realized that if- if no one's with you then how can anyone really know when you've redeemed yourself? So that's why I'm here I guess" (Ranboo's answer to why he trusts Wilbur. Which he doesn't, but still)
And the stream ends with Wilbur saying he hopes Tubbo comes around to try out one of the burgers (though he does repeat that he doesn't want Ranboo to pressure him to join) and complimenting Ranboo a bit more.
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dreamescapeswriting · 3 years
Text
Your New Boss ~ KTH [M] [Request]
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WORD COUNT: 5K
GENRE: Fluffy, Non Idol! CEO AU, Smut, office smut, unprotected sex, fluffy smut,
PAIRING: Kim Taehyung x Fem!Reader 
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As vice president to the company that you worked for people would assume you'd be on time and organised for every day that came at you but today just wasn't your day. Normally you would be up earlier than you had to be, you'd have some coffee and a real breakfast but for some reason, the universe had it out for you today. There was a power outage in your small apartment quarter setting your alarm off and giving you no chance to charge your phone and to top all that off your car was refusing to start for you. As well as having a flat tire at the back, you slammed your head down against the steering wheel wanting nothing more than for this day to end. All you wanted to do was go back to sleep.
"This is just fucking magical!" You screamed sarcastically as you took your black faux leather side bag from the boot of your car before booting the wheel that was flat and storming off towards the closest bus stop. It wouldn't be so bad being late if it wasn't for the new CEO that was taking over the business. You had no idea what his name was but from what you heard he was a hard ass on everyone. The only reason he was even taking over was that your boss was retiring and leaving it to someone he barely knew.
"Here," An elderly man held out an umbrella for you as you reached the bus stop, you thanked him and held it above your head. The uniform you were wearing was suited for the pouring rain that had seemingly come out of nowhere on your walk over, it had been scheduled sun all day which was why you'd worn the skirt and white blouse. Not expecting to get caught in the rain leaving your shirt almost transparent and your legs freezing cold.
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"You're late, you're late for a very important date," Your junior worker said as she watched you scramble off the elevator,  it had been creaking the whole ride up. You'd think for a million-dollar company they would learn to upgrade their elevator.
"I know, power outage and then my car wouldn't start, then the traffic coming in-" You sat down on your desk chair feeling defeated in yourself. You were freezing in the clothes you were wearing, the one day you don't bring in a spare change of clothes would be today.
"Then to top off the rain." You hissed as your assistant came rushing over making you jump, he was a little jumpy himself but he plugged a small heater in for you before standing in front of you.
"Do you have this morning's business reports?" You nodded over at the bag and he reached for it, telling you how you were the one supposed to give a meeting this morning but instead, the new CEO took over.
"Oh shit, is he nasty? Think he'll fire me?" Panic raced through you at the thought of being fired, you'd worked so hard to get to the vice president you weren't about to lose it because today the Universe hated you.
"I don't think so, he seems rather nice actually. He has the nicest eyes as well you should-"
"Miss Y/l/n, you're requested in the head office." One of the bitchy females told you as she glanced you up and down, she licked her lips before leaving to go and giggle with her friends. You gathered the papers from your assistant who began watching you closely, you slipped on a pair of heels you kept under your desk before heading over to the main office cabin.
"This day can't get any worse, it just can't." You mumbled to yourself as you placed your hand on the door to the main office.
"Come in!" A voice sounded from inside that seemed strangely familiar to you, it was odd. There was something about the voice, you couldn't quite place where you knew it from but there was a feeling in your gut that made you not want to head inside.
"Sir, I would like to formally apologise- ah!" As soon as you walked through the door the papers you'd been carrying began to fly out of your hands and all around the floor of the room. Taehyung looked up from the piece of paper with your name on it and his mouth almost fell open, he had no idea that it would be you.
"Miss Y/l/n?" He called out as he continued to watch you bend down and pick up the pieces of paper that were scattered around his office floor. He sighed to himself and got up to close the window, the breeze had been relaxing to him until now.
"Sorry Sir," You mumbled still not knowing where you knew his voice but as soon as you turned around and came face to face with him you could have died. Coincidentally the day could have gotten worse and it just did. Taehyung's mouth fell open as soon as you locked eyes, it was you.
"Why are you late?" He wasn't going to waste time on pleasantries, he kept up his stern look as he sat down on his chair and looked over your file. There'd never been an incident with you being late before so he saw no reason for you to be late today, even before he was your boss he knew how strict you were on your timekeeping.
"Sir, I was-" You glanced at him, he was still the same person as he was before you broke up only to you he was someone who hurt you badly.
"There was a power outage in my apartment building, then my car wouldn't start and there was traffic. As you can see I've never been late in the past..." You trailed off your own words not wanting to ramble in front of him, there was no reason for you to ramble to someone like him.
"Hmm, how odd that it all happened on the same day. You must have some serious bad luck," He said with a giant smile on his face,
"Hmm, I'm starting to think so." You mumbled while staring at the floor,
"Sorry? What did you say?" You shook your head as you plastered the fakest smile you could manage onto your face,
"Nothing Sir," He hummed before going back to looking through your reports and files that you'd produced.
"For being late this morning I want you to play catch up, you'll be filling out reports all week." He shut the folder and turned to look up at you, his eyes locking with yours.
"Before you leave, I run a strict business here. You'll have to change into something more appropriate for the workday. A white see-through shirt just isn't right for business." Your arms slowly folded over your chest as you grew insecure of him seeing all of this again,
"Yes Sir, won't happen again." He nodded to you and you turned to walk out of the door,
"Another thing," Your hand rested on the door handle of his office door, you turned to glance over your shoulder at him and his demeanour had changed now. His eyes seemed to have softened as he watched you closely.
"I don't want our past to disrupt our working environment-" You scoffed rolling your eyes at how unbelievable he was acting right now. He was still just the same entitled, can do no wrong guy he was before.
"What you mean is, you don't want me running around and tell everyone what you did to me." You snapped coldly as you turned to face him again, it was evident that you weren't going to leave the room just yet if this topic was being brought up for discussion.
"What I did to you?" He put the emphasis on the 'You' as he spoke, he raised himself from his desk and placed his palms flat on the table as his demeanour changed back to someone that was cold and cruel.
"What did I exactly do to you?" Your weight shifted from one foot to the other as you tried to match his cold stare but nothing could compare to his.
"The cheating for starters, all the women you were seeing behind my back but don't worry Sir. I won't let anyone know, I wouldn't want them knowing I snooped so low to date someone like you," He began shaking his head the moment that you told him he was seeing women behind your back,
"It's not true. Why would I ever cheat on you?" He was trying to get across to you that there must have been some kind of misunderstanding but you weren't going to stand here and battle it out with him. It was in the past now and that was all that mattered to you,
"I won't let anyone know about our past, it's something I wish I could forget also." You mumbled sarcastically as you stormed out of the room making sure to slam the door behind you as you headed for your desk.
"What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost." Your assistant was worried Taehyung might have said something that had upset you but it wasn't true...Almost wasn't true.
"Can you just go and buy me a new shirt please, I feel exposed." You were handing him your purse trying to get him out of your hair, if you spoke about it even a little it would bring back all of those feelings again and leave you crying on the floor.
"Right away ma'am." He could sense there was something you didn't want to talk about so he headed out of your way while you sat at your desk contemplating the decision of quitting. You'd worked so hard all these years to have your ex come above you and potentially ruin everything for you.
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"Do you want a lift back? I can drive past your apartment," Your assistant said to you later that night as you sat at your desk. Your heels were kicked off under the desk and you were at with one foot under yourself while you tried to stay away to finish the reports.
"No, it's alright. I have overtime tonight. I'll see you tomorrow though," You mumbled to him as he walked behind you and left. The rest of your floor was empty except for a few of the cleaners and of course Taehyung who was observed to make sure you did the overtime like you were supposed to. The words on the pieces of paper were all starting to blend together and make less sense the longer you stared at them, it was infuriating to do.
"Here," A mug of coffee was slipped onto your desk by Taehyung. He was already starting to feel guilty for making you do overtime but he didn't want people in the company to think he was picking favourites. You had to be tough in this company or it would chew you up and spit you back out. Glancing at the cup you ignored it and continued on with working not wanting to take anything from him, you didn't even want to be in the same room as him.
"You're free to go as soon as this report is finished and on my desk. You'll be doing overtime all week and you have a meeting on Friday." He slammed another folder full of reports on the desk before storming out of the building leaving you alone with the cleaners who had all turned to see what was happening.
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The week continued on just like that, snide remarks being made by you in direction of him and Taehyung piling more work onto your desk with the excuse that, 'It was your job.' Later nights meant less sleep and less sleep meant you weren't pumping out the best of work but it was finally Friday night which meant you could go home and get away from him for the weekend.
"Drinks tonight?" A lady from your office questioned as she walked up behind your chair and began shaking it playfully,
"Erm I'd love to-" Your eyes looked behind her to see Taehyung watching you, he was sitting against his chair with his eyes dead on you.
"I have work to finish, next week?" The girls all began leaving and you were alone in the office with Taehyung again. Luckily for you, there was a large wall keeping you both apart but it wasn't large enough to your liking. You could still feel his eyes burning into the back of your head as you worked on the papers you were doing.
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Taehyung wasn't in his office which meant you had about two seconds to get the report put on his desk and get into the elevator so you wouldn't have to face him. You dropped the papers down on the desk and began sprinting your way over to the lift, sliding inside and leaning back against the cold wall as you breathed a sigh of relief. Managing to avoid him all week had been difficult but you'd managed by sending your assistant in to give him or ask him for things. Or leaving whenever he wasn't around. There was no reason for you to talk to one another and you wouldn't have to feel hurt by him whenever you looked at him anymore.
"Y/n! Hold the door!" You scrunched your face together hoping the door would close as quickly as possible as he continued to yell your name out and begged you not to let the doors shut. The doors were so close to closing, you were almost free when his long shoe stuck in the door to open them again. The tension quickly began to grow awkward as he stood inside with you,
"Didn't you hear me calling?" You shook your head not wanting to admit you'd been hoping to get away from him. You just hoped that the elevator would move as quickly as possible but you seemed to move one floor and it began rumbling and it sounded as though it was about to fall apart.
"S-Shit," You whimpered your hand gripping onto the bar behind you, Taehyung glanced at you with panic in his eyes. He knew how badly you hated confined spaces and being trapped inside of an elevator probably wasn't what you had in mind for a fun Friday night.
A loud crunch sounded and the elevator jolted to a stop before the lights began to flicker out plunging you and Taehyung into complete darkness.
"I'll push the emergency button." Taehyung went to move but the elevator made another creaking sound so you gripped onto his wrist not wanting him to move.
"S-Stop, what if we fall?" He shook his head at you, he could tell just how frightened you were but there was nothing to be afraid of.
"We're okay, the ropes and wires will be fine it's just the power outage...Remember, they've been happening all week." You knew he was doing his best to keep you calm but it didn't help you at all. You slowly let go of his wrist so he could call someone but the button did nothing, it just seemed to push in and not do a thing.
"I don't have my phone it's up in my office," He whispered as he looked over at you, you were showing him your dead phone battery as you slowly slid down the back wall.
"We'll either start moving soon or someone will come to get us it's okay." But this was far from okay, this was all things not okay because you were stuck in here with your ex-boyfriend who was now your boss.
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Time seemed to be passing by slowly, neither of you was sure of what the time actually was but you could have sworn you'd been in there for two days - which was impossible someone would have found you.
"We could talk you know, save us sitting in silence." He was sitting across from you on the opposite wall, his shirt was untucked with the top three buttons undone looking as immaculate as he always did. His brown curls were a mess from all of the times he'd been running his fingers through it and he'd even put his glasses on. Something he used to do whenever he got headaches from what you could remember.
"What should we talk about?" Your eyes were locked onto the ceiling, you didn't want to make eye contact with him as you spoke but you had to admit this was better than sitting there doing nothing.
"We could talk about why you think I was cheating on you..." You looked at him with raised eyebrows, pulling your knees into your chest.
"I don't think you were, I know you were." He rolled his eyes at you as he tried to move closer to you,
"Y/n. I love you I would never do something like that...Why would you think that?" Taehyung's words were buzzing around in your head as you tried to focus on them, the one constant thing was that he said 'loves' you and not loved past tense. Taking in a deep breath you tried not to think about the way your heart was pounding rapidly, at the way your body longed to be closer to him for this.
"I saw you with those other girls, I saw the way they flirted...T-The way you touched them," He shook his head as you fumbled over your words, none of it had been true. He would never do something like that to you, he couldn't stand hurting you.
"None of it was true, I was seeing a lot of girls towards the end because I was getting something for you...A lot of them were private jewellers." Your brows knitted together as he spoke to you, denying everything you thought to be true this last year. Taehyung could see how confused you were so he began to reach into his pocket,
"I take it everywhere I go, it reminds me of you and how much I'll always love you." There it was again. Love. Present tense.
"Tae-" He cut you short by pulling out a small navy blue box, he popped it open to reveal a silver chain with a ring around it.
"It's like a promise ring...only for adults and not teenagers. I wanted to make it perfect so it-"
"Has the date we met engraved," You whispered as you saw the date etched into the outside of the ring with enough space beside it to add another date to it.
"So you weren't cheating on me..." He shook his head slowly,
"But you let me walk out," You whispered to him as he crawled to sit next to you, he looked at your hands wanting nothing more than to reach out and take it into his own. He knew you were single, he'd been asking your scrawny looking assistant everything he could about you and he knew you hadn't dated anyone since.  
"I didn't want you to hate me by trying to force you...I-I figured you'd realise I would never-" He was cut off when you suddenly, out of nowhere, began kissing him hungrily. Your hands working their way into his brown curls as you pulled him to face you, he hummed against your lips moving his hands to your waist.
"W-Wait, what are you doing?" He questioned part of him not wanting the kissing to end but the other part of him confused as to what was happening.
"I love you too...I-I thought you were cheated and I- I've never stopped loving you." Those were the only words he needed to hear from you as he brought you into another hungry kiss, you took control by sitting on his lap and smirking as you felt him bite down on your lip.
"As needy as ever." You whispered as you began kissing down his jawline and towards his neck, his aftershave was still the same. It made your body lurch forward as you ground your hips down onto his pants, you could feel just how much he needed you. He let out a whimper as you ground down and you giggled,
"I love you," You whispered to him as he cupped your chin in his hand and forced you to look into his eyes.
"I love you too," He mumbled bringing you into a rough kiss, his hands moving the edge of your skirt up as he pushed his palm along the inside of your thigh. Letting out a loud gasp as his thumb brushed along the outside of your core through your underwear you looked at him, begging him silently to take you then and there but the lift jolted and the lights flickered on.
"My office," He ordered as you stood up to straighten yourself out.
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Once out of the confined space reality began to seep into you about what you were doing with Taehyung. How you'd practically pounced on him without a second thought but your body didn't care. You still wanted him badly so you raced to his office with him. He drew the curtains shut around the small window that looked out over the offices while you looked out at the city view.
"It's beautiful," You whispered as you stared out at all the nightlife. The lights on all the buildings were the only thing lighting up the top half of the sky, it was lovely. Taehyung stood behind you while watching you instead of the view,
"It's the second most beautiful view for me," You groaned at how cheesy he was being and looked down at the floor not wanting to show him how shy he still managed to make you.
"Don't hide from me," He whispered standing behind you and placing his hands on your waist, your breath hitched as soon as he touched you.
"You're beautiful," He whispered as he leant down to put a long kiss on your neck making you whine out at the feel of it.
"I missed the way you sound," He admitted as he continued to leave small kisses on your skin. Biting down softly as he pulled you closer to him. He was still hard for you which made you weak at the knees,
"You like this baby? You like the way I touch you?" You couldn't fathom the words to speak quite yet so you pushed your ass back against him and gasped feeling how hard he was.
"Want you," Was the only thing you could manage to say while rolling your hips back,
"Want you inside." You whispered but he cocked his head to the side and decided to tease you as he sucked on your neck.
"You want me inside? Inside where?" He ran his hands down your body, lifting up the tight pencil skirt that had been teasing him all week. Then his thumb came into contact with your wet panties,
"You're so wet Y/n, did I do this to you?" You nodded weakly and he smirked pushing the edge of your panties to the side as he began to rub harder on your exposed clit.
"Say it, I want to hear you say it." He whispered as he began rubbing roughly on your clit, teasing one finger at your entrance but never once pushing it into you.
"I want you inside of me, I want you to make love to me on the desk." You panted heavily, moaning out at the smallest of touches.
"Good girl," He praised spinning you around so fast you didn't have time to comprehend what was happening until you were placed onto the edge of the table.
He had a cocky smirk plastered across his face as he sunk down in front of you, looking up into your eyes as he placed a small kiss on your clit.
"Taste so much better than I remember," He wasted no time in teasing you and dipped his tongue into you. Moaning against you as he could feel you clenching around his tongue.
"Oh shit." You let out a high pitch yell as your hands pushed into his curls, pushing him closer to your core as you bucked against him, whimpering as he continued to eat you out on the desk.
"Look at me," He ordered as your head rolled back, you hissed as he pushed two fingers into you and chuckled.
"So tight, has no one fucked this pretty little cunt?" You shook your head, you'd not slept with anyone since the moment you left. It was always going to be him you would let touch you, no one else.
"T-Tae please, I'm close." You panted as he continued to push his fingers in and out of you, curling them as he pushed them knuckles deep. The room was starting to feel like it was spinning each time he thrust his fingers into you.
"You want to cum all over my fingers?" You nodded pathetically and he chuckled kissing up to your ear as he continued to fuck his own fingers to you.
"So fucking tight, cum all over my fingers then angel." You whimpered hearing him whisper into your ear, you bit down on his shoulder bucking against his fingers to drawer yourself closer to the edge.
"Ugh, shit- T-Taehyung!" You cried out feeling a warm sensation rise through your body before white clouded your vision. Cumming all over his fingers as he continued to pump them in and out of you. Staring into your eyes as he slowly pulled them out and sucked them clean.
Seeing this you went to slide off the desk to return the favour but he shook his head, unbuckling his trousers as he looked at you.
"N-Need to feel you around me." You smirked this time, seeing how desperate he became within a matter of seconds.
"Then take me." You slowly spread your legs for him on the desk and he gulped looking at how wet you were, your cum still dripping from your folds and he grunted. Reaching out to run his fingers through your arousal before coating himself in it. Pumping himself slowly as he grunted out your name,
"S-Shit baby...I don't- I don't have any-" You shook your head at him as you knew what he was going to say,
"I'm on the pill." As soon as the words left your mouth it was like something took over him and he slowly pushed himself into you. Your nails dug into your shoulders as you whimpered out his name.
"T-Taehyung i-it hurts-" It'd been so long since anything like this had happened for you, he kissed you lovingly.
"I know Y/n, I'm sorry." He pulled back out before sliding back in moaning as he felt your walls tighten around him.
"Even tighter than before," He grunted as he kissed you again, holding onto your hips as he continued with the slow thrusts into you not wanting to hurt you.
"F-Faster," You panted as your back arched forward into him. His eyes scanned over the white shirt and all he could picture was Monday morning when your shirt was wet, he ripped your shirt open and smirked seeing a black bra.
"So fucking hot." He hissed as he buried himself deep into you, freeing you from your bra and throwing your ripped clothing somewhere in the room.
"Argh fuck." You whimpered as he began tugging and twisting on one nipple while biting softly on the other. He had you in the palm of his hands and he knew it.
"T-Taehyng faster please." You begged him so he began to piston his hips forward, bringing you closer to the edge of the table to pick up his speed. Thrusting in and out of you quickly while you let out screams of his name and curse words.
"J-Just like that!" You cried out as he reached down to play with your sensitive clit again. Tugging it between his fingers and rubbing it roughly.
"Oh god, Tae!" You screamed out as he continued to thrust into you, you clenched around and he grunted.
"B-Baby d-don't," He stuttered out as his hip movements began to stutter, every clench as bringing him closer to his own release and he didn't want this to end.
"W-Want you to cum." You whimpered out to him as his rhythm picked up again, hitting your hilt every time making your eyes roll back.
"Y-You first princess," He chuckled watching the way your eyes rolled back as he hit you in just the right spot. You clenched around him a couple more time before moaning out his name loudly, so close to your second orgasm you wanted to push him away from the over-stimulation but pull him back and never let him stop.
"S-Shit I-I'm cumming." You whimpered as he pushed into you roughly one last time, making your core clench around him and released onto his cock. His hips jutted as he let out a growl from his lips, holding you in place as he filled you up. You whimpered feeling some of it drip out of you already but he held himself inside of you. You convulsed a little and he chuckled pulling out slowly before cupping your face in his hands and smiling at you.
"I love you so much Y/n," He pulled you into a loving kiss but you pulled away,
"I love you too," Your voice came out hoarse from all the yelling and you whimpered laying back against the desk not caring that you were laid on stacks of ruined papers.
"Am I off the hook for being late now?" You laughed as he pulled you up and wrapped his blazer around your body, he chuckled at you.
"You're only off the hook if you come back to mine tonight. I want to wake up with you in my arms, cook you breakfast...Like old times." He whispered as he pushed his head into the crook of your neck and kissed softly.
"Of course," You whispered back to him as he pulled you down from the desk, laughing softly as you whined out desperately. You suddenly felt empty when his seed left your body and he rolled his eyes at you, promising to do it again when you got back to his place if you behaved yourself on the ride home.
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Tagline: @fluffyjoons​ @lyoongx​ @mitzwinchester​ @fan-ati--c​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @taestannie​ @rjsmochii​ @bisexualmess007​ @sw33tnight​ @sweeneyblue1​ 
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mrsamaroevans · 3 years
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NOT A THIRD CHANCE | MIGUEL GALINDO
Fandom: Mayans M.C.
Pairing: Miguel Galindo x Female Reader.
Words: 3,844.
Warnings: Spoilers of season 3 of Mayans MC. English is not my first language, so, sorry if there are grammar mistakes or if the redaction is poor.
A/N: I always try to keep this short and I end up writing more than 3k words :c Sorry! *GIF NOT MINE*
|| MY MASTERLIST ||
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You knew him so well that you knew when he was lying and when he was telling the truth.
You already suspected it for weeks. All those trips to Mexico... he had never made as many as in the past months, and, it came to a point where he didn't hide the reasons for his trips from you, he no longer hid anything that had to do with the cartel, why would he have started doing it again?
But when those pictures arrived… you hadn't realized until then that you were praying for your suspicions not to be true. But there were no longer any doubts. You already had the facts and although it broke your heart, you took your things, you took your son, and you left the house without giving any prior sign.
Miguel hadn't even realized it and that was probably what hurt you the most. That first night you were away from home, he was away too. He was in México. The next afternoon when he arrived and didn't find you, that's when he started calling you but all he got was your voicemail. And then he saw the pictures you left on the bed and understood everything.
He had no idea where you could have gone. You stopped talking to your family a year ago, your best friend hadn't heard from you in days. Two days after thinking and looking at your statements for some signs, he knew where you went.
It was the only place you could have gone for support. You always told him that.
“Why did you disappear like that?” Was the first thing he asked when you opened the door “I was worried”
“In the arms of Palomo, sure” you nodded and crossed your arms in your chest as you leaned against the front door frame “What happened? She got tired of sharing?”
“Amor…”
“Don’t call me that” You interrupted him. Your voice came out more aggressive than you thought it would, but hearing him call you that way when he could have been calling another woman the same, caught you off guard and made you angry in just a second. “You have no right to call me that”
Miguel looked hurt and regretful, but you couldn't let that distract you. You couldn't fall that fast again.
“It’s not what you think,” he said and from the way he sounded, you knew he also thought it was a weak excuse.
“So it’s photoshopped? Really? That’s your defense?” You asked with a bitter laugh.
“Let me explain—”
“No… listen, Miguel, I’m too tired,” you said sighing. Your head was spinning around because, although you knew you had to face him sometime, you were not ready to do it so quickly “I’m so tired of your excuses. I’ve been hearing them for months, I’m done”
“Don’t say that… (Y/n), please let me fix it” he insisted, but you shook your head to cut him off.
“I talked to my lawyer,” You said and now the one who was taken by surprise was him “The papers will be home tomorrow, so please sign them”
“What?” Miguel shook his head, your request seemed to make him angry “No… I’m not gonna sign anything without trying to fix what I did first”
You were about to say something when a few steps coming from the kitchen made you look back.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Felipe said when he saw you two at the door. You have never been so grateful for an interruption before.
“It’s okay, Felipe, Miguel is leaving now,” you said turning back to the man in front of you. He knew exactly what you were doing, but he didn't want to leave, not yet. He still had a lot to say, but you didn't feel like listening anymore.
“I want to see my son” he demanded but you didn’t accept it.
“He’s taking a nap” you answered with a sharp tone “If you want to see him another time, I’m not gonna forbid you, but I’m not gonna let you interrupt his nap now”
The next times you spoke to him were through text messages. He was busy with the cartel and you had been very clear that you didn't want him to go to the Reyes' house other than to see Cristobal and whenever he had time it was already too late at night.
You were hardly ever alone. Ez went home with Emily whenever they could, Angel also went sometimes, and having gone to them had not only worked for you but for Felipe as well. Your son had more people who paid attention to him and played with him and he was very happy about it. His happiness was contagious, so nobody at home could be sad or worry whenever he was awake.
The days were easy to get through, but the nights? That was a completely different story.
Because, no matter how tired you were, you spent hours tossing and turning in bed thinking about everything. You couldn't help but remember the good times with Miguel and all those promises that he had made that now no longer existed. You were angry, hurt, and sad, you wanted to burn and break everything, but not even with all those feelings you could put aside the fact that, although your heart was broken, it still belonged to Miguel and you didn't know if one day that would change.
“Daddy!!!”
From the grass, you saw your husband getting close to where you were and saw how he received with a smile and open arms to your son who ran happily towards him. The laughter of your son when his father held him in his arms filled your heart and somehow, made it harder to keep with the decision you had made when you saw those pictures.
“Mi niño... How are you?” Miguel asked him with a big smile on his face “You good?”
“Yes” Cristobal nodded and your still husband turned to you. You were still sitting on the grass and when Miguel saw you trying to stand up, he came over and offered his hand to help you. “Don Felipe is amazing,” Cristobal said and Miguel took his attention back to him “And tío Ez and tío Angel too”
And even though Miguel was not that happy to hear those names, he nodded “I bet they are”
You heard a bike and your son got immediately excited. You had just more than two weeks staying at Felipe's house, but he already identified when Angel or Ez arrived home. He even identified the sound of Felipe's truck.
Cristobal moved in Miguel's arms for him to put him down, and he, without understanding, did so.
“Tío Angel is home,” Cristobal said jumping around and turning towards you. You knew what that look meant. He was asking your permission to go with Angel like every afternoon when he, his brother, or his father came home.
“Go,” you told him and smiled at his reaction. Cristobal ran towards the street and Miguel turned to you.
Cristobal never did that with him. Yes, the house was big enough so he would never hear the cars coming in, but, he didn’t even show that much excitement whenever he crossed the door of any room where he was.
“You think it's safe for him to go out alone?” Miguel asked you so you turned back to him and nodded.
“Angel's waiting for him,” You said nodding again. The Reyes already knew they had to wait outside until Cristobal got to them. They loved coming home to a swirl of excitement. “I thought you were going to México”
Angel walked into the backyard before Miguel could say anything. He had some bags in one of his hands and Cristobal’s little hand in the other one. Both men just nodded when their gazes met.
“Dinner's ready,” Angel said showing you the bags. You had asked him to stop by for some food before going home “Ez and Emily are helping pops, it won’t take them long...”
“You want to join us?” You asked Miguel and he immediately shook his. You already knew what his answer would be, if you had known he would accept, you wouldn’t have asked.
“No. I just came to see my son and talk to you” Miguel answered and you could notice his emphasis when he talked about Cristobal. Miguel knew how to hide his feelings, but you knew he was hating to see his son taking your ex's hand.
“Why don't you put the table?” You turned to Angel and he nodded, taking Cristobal inside the house when he understood you needed to talk to Miguel alone. “Did you sign the papers?” You asked once your son was far enough away so he couldn’t hear.
“I already told you I'm not going to sign anything,” he said irritated. His gaze was still in the door where Cristobal and Angel disappeared.
“Miguel, don't make this harder,” you asked, sighing tiredly. It was probably the fifth or sixth time you asked him to sign the divorce papers “If you're worried about not seeing Cristobal, I already told you not to worry”
“Amor... We need to talk this” he said  “We can't let everything we've built go just like that”
“Just like that?” You repeated while frowning “Why didn't you think about that before sleeping with her?” You rhetorically asked, “You’re asking me to not forget everything we’ve been through, but if you did, why couldn’t I?” Your eyes filled with tears. Even though you’ve been away for two weeks, it frustrated you to not be able to feel anything like he did whenever he went to México with Palomo “I honestly don’t know what did you need… sometimes I feel like I failed you in something”
“You didn’t,” he said immediately, taking a step towards you. You didn't step back because despite wanting to hate him for what he did, you couldn't help but want to feel him close.
“Then?” He asked, but he didn't answer. There were no more excuses that he could use “You know what’s funny? You used to be mad whenever Angel was around, you didn’t stand to hear his name. You were so worried about me cheating with him and the only one cheating was you”
“My mother died, I… I was out of my mind; I was hurt and—”
“I was too and I didn’t run into somebody else’s arms” your voice trembled so you had to clear your throat before continuing “All those times you said you didn’t want to be like your father… Well, you are”
“(Y/n)…” Miguel tried to get closer to you and when you took a step back, his eyes filled with tears now.
“You can come to see Cristobal as many times as you want, but don’t come to talk to me until you sign those papers,” you said putting more distance between the two of you and getting closer to the door “Cristobal! Come say bye to your dad!”
Miguel pressed his eyes with the palm of his hands and tried to look his best by the time Cristobal went out to say goodbye to him.
That night, Cristobal decided that he wanted Felipe to be the one to tuck him in and read him a bedstory, and he wasn't willing to take "no" for an answer. But Felipe didn't care. Happily, after the kid's bath, he went up to the room that had been Ez's to do what the boy had asked, leaving you and his youngest son alone in the living room.
“Since when you drink wine?” He asked you when you poured yourself another drink. You were in the living room, sitting on the couch in front of the television. Emily had left a few hours earlier “Angel said you were the reason why Bishop started to order more beer” he joked.
“Bulshit” You laughed and Ez did too “It’s not that bad, wanna try it?” You asked, offering him your glass, but Ez shook his head, giving a suspicious look at the liquid in your glass.
“Angel said that Galindo stopped by” Ez took his beer and gave it a sip, then leaned against the back of the couch and turned to look at you.
You chuckled “He came with more excuses” you shook your head without turning to him.
You were silent for a couple of minutes, minutes in which you almost finished the red liquid in your glass. You were so focused on not feeling or thinking anything that when Ez spoke again, you just barely got what he said.
“Remember what you told me when we saw each other again after I got out?” He asked with his gaze fixed on you. You smiled when that memory came to you. Meeting your best friend after 8 years of not seeing him was one of the best things that ever happened to you.
“I told you many things,” you said, knowing too well what he was referring to.
“You said that I made a mistake as everybody does,” He said it even so. You looked down when you heard those words. You said that after he told you how embarrassed he would have been if he had allowed you to see him while he was in prison. You had tried to make him feel better. You never believed that those words could be used against you, let alone make you feel worse than you already felt. “Nobody’s perfect”
You laughed lightly. You moved so he would be in front of you.
“You’re Hannah Montana now?” You asked making him laugh. He gave another sip of his beer and then sighed.
“You love him and he loves you…” He said. You knew how hard it was for him to admit it. He never liked the idea of you marrying Miguel “He made a mistake, just like me and so many people”
“So you think I should go back and pretend that nothing happened?” You raised one of your eyebrows as a small smile appeared on your face. It was probably the alcohol in your system, or probably just you wanting to pretend that the whole thing was not that important to you anymore.
“Pretend that nothing happened? No” Ez shook his head immediately.
“What do you think I should do then?”
“What I think is not important” your friend shrugged “It’s only your decision to make”
And yes. It was. But it was one of the hardest decisions you have ever had to make in your life.
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The next days Miguel called you, completely ignoring the fact that you had asked him not to speak to you unless what he was going to tell you was that he had already signed the papers. He talked to Cristobal by video call when he couldn't go to see him, but for the last two days, he hadn't even sent a text. You only knew he got busy and had to do with job matters.
Until one day when you were with your son and Felipe at the butcher shop, Nestor called you. He sounded concerned when he told you that Miguel was a mess and that he felt that you would be the only one who could calm him down, so you agreed to go home when Felipe told you that he would watch your son.
On your way there, you were worried about what you might find when you arrived. Although Miguel always showed his true feelings to you, he rarely loses control, and you were worried about him because he was the father of your child and because even if you didn't want to, you still loved him.
“Nestor…” you said when you parked your car. Your husband's best friend was already waiting for you there “Where is he?”
“Office… he doesn’t look good” he informed you while you walked into the house “The office will need a makeover”
You sighed when you were already in front of his office door. You couldn't hear anything from there, he had probably calmed down a bit by now, but after what had happened with his mother, you quickly opened the door only to find him sitting on the couch with his gaze lost at some point in the room.
The office was a mess. There were books all over the floor, the pages of some were peeled off their covers. The desk lamp was broken and there was a mark on the nearby wall, that made you think he had thrown it at it. The few things on the desk —because many were scattered throughout the room— were messy and even one of the windows was broken.
“Hey…” you said when he didn't turn to you. He wasn't wearing his jacket and his dress shirt was disheveled.
“What are you doing here?” Miguel asked when he heard your voice. It was not exactly an invitation for you to get close, but you did it anyway, being careful to not step on anything in the way “Álvarez called you?”
“No… I needed more clothes for Cristobal” You lied. Thinking about it though, it wasn't entirely a lie. The one who called you was Nestor, not Álvarez “You good?” You asked when you sat next to him after moving some papers. When you were closer to him you noticed that there were tear trails on his cheeks.
“No” He answered, not turning to see you still “I’m not good” he repeated “My wife left with my son, my mother’s dead and I just found out that I knew a version of my mother that wasn’t her,” he said, closing his eyes and throwing his head back “And it was all my fault”
“What happened with your mother wasn’t your fault,” You told him because you knew he's been struggling with those thoughts since what happened.
“I could have done more” he muttered.
“Your mother made a decision and she would have found the way to do it whenever she wanted” Although those words probably wouldn't make him feel better, it was something he had to understand and accept sooner or later. “It’s not your fault”
Miguel nodded even though he didn't completely believe what you said.
“I found a picture of her in one of her books,” he said and turned to you for the first time to ask you: “Felipe knew her; you knew?”
You sighed and nodded “Yes”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, his eyes filled with tears.
“‘Cause she asked me no to”
Miguel sighed and sopped for a second before continuing. Your heart was already broken by the mistake he made, but it was breaking a bit more for seeing him in that state.
“I went to talk to him… he told me he was in love with her. He told me that my mom loved to dance, can you imagine? The woman I had to convince to dance with me in our wedding… loved to dance” he smiled and you did the same, the difference was that his tears began to fall before than yours “I didn’t know that” he shook his head looking down as his smile faded “Felipe said that she had to leave parts of her behind ‘cause they didn’t fit with being José Galindo’s wife” his face seemed to radiate hatred. You knew that Miguel and his father didn't have a close relationship, but you knew that he was fond of him and you had never seen him with that expression while talking about him. “I signed the papers,” he said and those words made your eyes start to fill with tears.
“Why did you change your mind?” You asked trying to make your voice come out as calm as possible.
“You have lost so many things since the day I met you” he winced “Your family, your friends, the club… your social circle went smaller” his voice trembled. He seemed more affected than you by that fact. You had never cared about losing friends or family because Miguel never really made you stopped seeing them. They had decided to walk away on their own “I don’t want you to become my mother…”
You got closer to him and grabbed his hand “You know that wasn’t the reason behind my decision, Miguel, you know it too well”
“Yes, I fucked it up” he nodded “But that’s what I mean… you gave me everything and more than you could. You sacrificed so many things, you’ve been there for me in the worst moments. You gave me my son… and I failed you”
Now, you two were already crying. You let him intertwine his fingers with yours.
“I love you and it hurt me to know that you maybe didn’t love me the same—” you confessed and you felt his hand lightly squeeze yours.
“It wasn’t the case…” he interrupted you right away “I love you the same as ever. It wasn’t your fault, it was all me” he sobbed “If I could go back in time and change it… I would”
You fell silent. That conversation you had with Ez about the mistakes that everyone makes went through your mind. That conversation had made you reconsider your decision, and you hadn't stopped thinking about it since that night.
Who were you kidding? You loved that man and as much as you wanted to follow your pride, deep down you didn't want to get away from him.
You let go of his hand and took the folder that you put away before. When you opened it, you realized that they were the divorce papers already signed by him. Your signature was already there too but it wasn't official yet. You would have to take them back to the lawyer so he could do the rest.
“Do you want to do this?” You asked turning to him. Miguel immediately shook his head.
“Te amo. I’m only doing it for you”
You looked down at the papers on your lap. You knew Miguel too well, you know when he was lying and when he was telling the truth. You were sure he was being honest. So you took the papers and tore them up, making Miguel look up at you.
You looked at him and saw the relief and thankfulness on his face.
“Don’t fuck it up again” you said, cupping his face in your hands as he shook his head.
“I won’t… I promise” Miguel took your hands, kissed them, and then hugged you tightly “Thank you” he muttered in your neck “Oh, God, I missed you so much” he cried as you ran your fingers through his hair.
“I mean it, Miguel,” you said, leaning back so you could see him in the eyes “Don’t fuck it up again”
“I know” he nodded “I swear I won’t”
You smiled and let him come closer so he could kiss you, sealing that promise you were sure he would keep.
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|| MY MASTERLIST ||
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queerlennon · 3 years
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Lesley-Ann Jones Is Untrustworthy
So I’ve seen some people in the fandom reading and citing Lesley-Ann Jones’ biography The Search For John Lennon recently and to be honest it’s concerning to me. Lesley Ann Jones has proved in the past to be an extremely untrustworthy source for info about the people she writes about. I understand that it’s exciting to have a book about John that’s not written by the typical “Lennon biographer” type (aka an ageing straight man) and for said book to also promise to shed light and focus on his bisexuality but, if we’re going to analyse John respectfully and accurately, it’s important to identify sources that are biased and untrustworthy, even if they’re technically within our favour. Especially when it relates to his queerness. And seeing as LAJ doesn’t have the best record when it comes to writing about rockstars’ sexualities in a respectful manner, it’s best to treat her words with caution.
Info about exactly how she’s a bad source is under the cut
Firstly, it's key to talk about LAJ's journalistic background when discussing what sort of writer she is: she's worked for papers such as The Sun, The Daily Mail, and The Mail On Sunday. Essentially, the bulk of her work has been for tabloids and traditionally the writing style for those kinds of publications place an emphasis on sensationalism and gossip. Now obviously that doesn’t discredit her work immediately, authors are usually able to write in more than one style so it doesn’t necessarily mean the tabloid style is going to carry over to her biographies; but it’s good to keep in mind when discussing and analysing the legitimacy of the narratives she creates and the stories she recounts in her work. 
LAJ has received criticism in the past, particularly from the queen fandom of often overexaggerating, or just straight presenting false information in her bios about Freddie Mercury. She is the champion of the claim that Freddie was bisexual and not gay. Her evidence for this is over-exaggerating and (seemingly intentionally) misinterpreting the nature of the relationship between Freddie and his friend, Barbara Valentin. LAJ claimed that the two had a relationship and even lived together:
“Barbara was very open with me about the sexual relationship she had with Freddie.”
(x)
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However, no-one in Freddie’s life has ever corroborated that Freddie and Barbara were anything but friends. As for the claim they lived together, according to Peter Freestone, an extremely close friend of Freddie’s:
In the event, Freddie never actually lived there although Barbara fulfilled a huge role in Freddie’s life at that time... Freddie became very disillusioned when with more and more frequency articles were appearing in the German press’s gossip columns... about the relationship between him and Barbara... After one article claiming to have knowledge of him and Barbara getting married, Freddie... concluded that it could only be Barbara who was providing the information.
(x)
This exaggeration of their relationship and the insistence LAJ has on presenting Freddie as bi because of it has attracted criticism from queen fans for obvious reasons. For one, it’s borderline homophobic to essentially lie about a gay man having a relationship with a woman while downplaying his relationships with men. No, she’s not portraying him as a straight man, however it’s still erasure of the specific struggles Freddie would’ve faced being a gay man in his time, therefore those who want to analyse him would be missing some of the picture when trying to understand him and his life
LAJ’s research methods are also... questionable. This is a post from Crystal Taylor (one of Roger Taylor’s roadies) about her methods for her David Bowie bio which, if to be believed is particularly concerning.
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LAJ is also known to greatly exaggerate her own relationships with her subjects. She often claims to have been friends with the people she writes bios about (coincidently the people she does this with are dead.) Back in the day she would meet with artists while on tour so the idea is convincing enough. However besides her word there’s nothing to suggest that she had close friendships with Freddie or Bowie, two people she claimed to be good friends with. There’s also this comment from Brian May which actually goes against the idea that she was close with Freddie:
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(x)
So with all of this in mind, let’s look at the quote from The Search For John Lennon that’s been circulating around Beatles tumblr:
That Bowie worshipped Lennon is no secret. He'd banged on about it often enough. The ex-Beatle had gone to his hedonism. They'd met in Los Angeles, during John's Lost Weekend. I lunched from time to time with David in New York while working there as a music journalist, before he married Iman. He lent me his house in Mustique, to write the first draft of my first biography on Freddie Mercury.
The crazy pair went out to play, according to David, when John was on yet another break from May and far away from Yoko. They genderbender-ed about, John indulging again that 'inner fag' of his. What larks.
They later 'hooked up': 'There was a whore in the middle, and it wasn't either of us,' David smirked. 'At some point in proceedings, she left. I think it was a she. Not that we minded.' By the time they made it back to New York, the ambisextrous pair were 'lifelong friends'.
I’m suspicious of this story for several reasons but first I want to make it clear that none of them have to do with John having sex with men or being bisexual. I’m a very firm believer of John’s bisexuality (my username is literally queerlennon lmao) but once again I think it’s good to examine the legitimacy of sources, even when they favour our position.
Firstly, LAJ’s source for this story is the claim that David told her, which considering I can’t find any info about them being friends besides her word, combined with the fact that she’s lied about having close relationships in the past raises a lot of flags.
But even if we assume LAJ isn’t lying and did know Bowie, the quote is still suspect, particularly the line “John was on yet another break from May and far away from Yoko.” According to May in her book Loving John, her and John had only one break from their relationship (the phrase “yet another break” implies multiple) that lasted a week, and for the entirety of that week, John was with Yoko. (x)
Finally, the language LAJ uses to describe John and David’s sexualities not only puts me on edge but very much makes me question her intention. Phrases like “the genderbender-ed about,” “indulged his ‘inner fag,’” and “ambisextrous,” all come across to me as fetishisation. Bisexuality is already very highly fetishised and sexualised and LAJ is most definitely not concerned with deviating from that representation. That phrasing combined with the way she also discusses Freddie’s sexuality, where she’s alleged highly sexualised claims about him having threesomes:
And quite often that involved other people as well. Other men, other women. There would be a number of them in the bedroom at any given time. In fact they were raided by the police once and the police stormed in and they found more people than they were expecting to find in the bed that morning.
(x)
— leads me to believe that LAJ is an author less concerned with exploring John’s sexuality as apart of his life, something that made him who he was, and more concerned with including details about “bisexual threesomes” as shock value, as a sensational point she can use to to promote her book in press tours and interviews. Like a tabloid writer. And this sort disrespect representation of John’s queerness, imo isn’t that much better than the biographers who dismiss or underplay it. I totally understand that for a lot of us, finding out new info about John’s queer identity is exciting, especially for those of us who are queer and identify with a lot with John for that reason, myself included. But we shouldn’t be giving credence and legitimacy to someone who firstly, isn’t trustworthy and secondly who’s reason for talking about it is gross and exploitative at best and biphobic at worst.
tl;dr, LAJ is an incredibly untrustworthy source of info and in her own over exaggerations, treats discussions of queerness in an extremely problematic and exploitive way so please take anything you read from her with a massive grain of salt.
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fuwahiko · 3 years
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NOT ME TAKING LITERAL DAYS TO FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH BACKSTORY I WANTED TO GIVE THIS AND ACCIDENTALLY CLOSING THE APP AND LOSING WHAT I HAD WHEN I WAS FINALLY GETTING SOMEWHERE I-
Im a disaster but i finally got my head on straight alright HERE'S SOME OUMOTA FOR YA
SO. The V3 kids have gone on the town to hang out. Why? They were sick of always going to Amami's house. They needed a change of scenery. What are they doing? Karaoke? Bowling? Who knows. But they're all making fun of each other.
Their collective love language towards each other is bullying.
At some point, a lot of people get hungry. Miu, for some ungodly reason, yells at Kokichi to go and order for them. And bring the food down when it's done. For some even ungodlier reason, Kokichi agrees. Without an argument. Not even an insult.
He does kiss Kaito while flipping everyone off before walking off, but now everyone's scared of what the gremlin's planning. Only Kaito's safe if Kokichi's got something planned. Boyfriend priveleges work...sometimes.
With Kokichi, he's waiting for everyone's food when someone shouts his name...or something close to it. Intrigued, he turns around and immediately tenses up. But only slightly.
It his ex-boyfriend. Kokichi never wanted to see this ex (who i call Fuckface McAsshole) again. It wasn't healthy, and when he tried to break it off, said ex lost it and dragged shit out for a week and a half. Kokichi was about to turn and rush towards Kaito and the others, because safety in numbers (plus Kaito could throw a mean punch), but the ex got there first. He had also accidentally left his phone on the table with the others.
There was no calling for help. Kokichi was stuck.
So he was forced to play the long game. He didn't wanna make a scene in such a public place. He let his ex talk and talk and talk while retaining none of what he was saying. When the ex noticed Kokichi wasn't listening, he commented. ("...why aren't you listening to me, Ko? Got somewhere better to be? With people that actually want you around? Fucking doubt it.")
When he hears that, Kokichi snaps. Not completely, but enough to get snappy
"Actually, my friends and boyfriend are waiting on their food. I'm here to get their food. And I can't hear the person calling out numbers because of your blabbering. So be quiet."
Kokichi knew he shouldn't have snapped. He knew as soon as his ex's eyes widened, then narrowed. He'd never admit it, but that look made him slightly nervous.
From there, everything escalates very quickly. Quicker than Kokichi anticipated. It's about to get real ugly in two seconds. And everyone's going to hear and stare at whatever's going to go down.
......soooooo now i hand it off to you. What exactly happens between Kokichi and his ex? How do the V3 kids find out about all this, and how do they react? How does Kokichi react after that fiasco? And what do they all (extra emphasis on Kaito bc Oumota) do to try and comfort and/or cheer up Kokichi after THAT?
(Did i listen to "Happier than Ever" by Billie Eilish when i thought of this...maybe i did and maybe i didn't. You can't prove anything.)
this is a really interesting scenario! kokichi feeling so backed up into a corner like that is certainly unusual, for one thing.
ok ok so I like the idea of like, kokichi trying to work on himself a lot. dude needs therapy. and in this au I can see it being the case that kokichi has been working through stuff a lot and has managed to become so close with everyone because of that - like I'm sure in a non despair au he wouldn't be quite so... ~the way that he is~ anyway, but he'd likely still have a lot of issues and struggle to get along with everyone at first, but then with some encouragement from someone he trusts and gets along with more (kaito? maybe someone else? maybe it's more of a slowburn with him getting closer to kaito?) he'd eventually start going to therapy and start slowly working on himself, as well as starting over with some people he maybe started off on the wrong foot with before. it might take some time, but eventually even the people that really didn't get along with him start to open up a little and try to understand him more, and he does the same for them. everyone sees how hard kokichi is trying, and he's really changing for the better, and that inspires them to work on themselves too and it brings everyone a lot closer.
so. when kokichi's ex shows up, it stirs all of this awfulness inside of him, all of this bitterness. it ends up starting to pull at the worst things within kokichi, trying to bring it all to the surface, and kokichi is trying his hardest to stop himself from saying something horrible, from making a scene, from making every stranger in the area turn to look at him with that look that makes him want to disappear. he's trying so hard not to fall back into old habits and old behaviours; he's been working so hard and finally things are looking up for once.
but then he slips up.
he knew he shouldn't have said anything, but his ex wasn't going to leave him alone anyway, and suppressing his own emotions was getting too difficult, so he had to do something. but now his ex was glaring at him even more than before, and kokichi could feel the rage radiating from him, and he immediately regretted ever opening his mouth. but he'd already come this far, and his ex had backed him so far into the corner that all kokichi could do was bite back just as hard.
kokichi's ex raised his voice, and it was like the floodgates had been opened. everything he was saying was blurring together into an endless string of sharp needles that pierced into kokichi, targeting all of his weak points, hurting him over and over, each needle piercing deeper than the last. kokichi snapped back, his own voice just as loud, throwing insult after insult and trying to dig up all that he could think of to hurt him back, trying to find just the right words to hurt his ex even deeper than he had hurt him, all the while a smirk spread across his face as kokichi pretended like he was enjoying himself, enjoying this conflict, but with every word he fired back he only felt more hatred towards himself. it was a form of self destruction, and now that he'd started hurting himself, kokichi didn't know how to stop.
just when kokichi felt like his own self hatred was going to swallow him whole, he half-registered footsteps growing louder just out of view. then, before he knew it, suddenly his ex was being lifted off the ground in front of him.
kokichi's eyes widened as he finally processed what he was looking at. it was kaito. kaito was here and he had grabbed the ex by his shirt and lifted him up, a furious expression spread across kaito's face.
"the fuck are you doing to kokichi?!" kaito practically roared as he held his free hand in a fist.
after maybe a brief moment of relief, kokichi felt fear and panic grab hold of him, and when he met eyes with kaito he seemed to immediately understand exactly what he was feeling.
kaito let go, letting kokichi's ex drop and stumble as he found his footing. "sorry. I wasn't gonna do anything, I didn't mean to scare you." kaito looked ashamed now, and he turned away from kokichi for a moment. kaito had been working on himself a lot too, specifically dealing with anger issues and his tendency to resort to violence when things got hard to deal with, and he'd been making a lot of progress. kaito knew he would've decked this guy if kokichi hadn't looked so upset, and he felt horrible about it. he felt awful that he was just reverting back to his usual ways, and he felt even more awful because he'd made kokichi feel worse, even if only for a second. he felt like such a disappointment. kokichi felt horrible too, and he felt like it was his own fault that kaito had gotten so worked up, that if he'd just dealt with his ex in another way then kaito never would've gotten dragged into this. kokichi had brought the worst out of himself, and now he felt he was doing the same to kaito, pulling him down with him.
just then, security showed up and asked them to leave. kokichi and kaito both had the thought of telling them that the ex was the problem and that they'd just been going about their day until he started shit, but neither of them said anything, just left without making any more fuss. they gave them their money back for the food at least, but now the whole thing had just been a waste.
when they grouped up with the others outside again, kaito holding kokichi's hand as they walked, everyone was chatting and laughing together as they had been doing all day, but they all quickly realised something was up as they saw how shaken kokichi looked and how kaito's face was scrunched up with frustration. of course they'd also seen that the two of them were empty handed, but that wasn't their main concern.
"guys? what's wrong?" kaede rushed over to see them, a look of worry spread across her face. kaito squeezed kokichi's hand a little tighter as he told them all what he'd walked in on. he decided to do the talking himself, knowing kokichi was struggling at the moment and not wanting him to have to explain everything on top of that. he didn't really know what had been happening exactly, but he'd gathered that this guy had been kokichi's ex, and he knew he'd started something with kokichi because he knew that kokichi would never start anything like that himself now.
maki suggested they all move to somewhere quieter, so they headed down a nearby street that lead to an open area with a park that was surrounded by a long wall that was low enough to sit on. kaito sat with kokichi on the wall, pulling him in close at his side and wrapping his arm around him firmly, reassuringly. kaede sat on kokichi's other side, speaking gently and offering to let him borrow her earphones to listen to some music to help him calm down. he refused, but he appreciated the thought. himiko sat on the grass at his feet in silence, but he knew her well enough now to know she was trying her best to support him, even if she didn't know what to say or do. shuichi and maki sat down beside kaito, who was calmer now, but concerned for kokichi and still upset with himself.
"it's all my fault..." kokichi mumbled sadly, his head resting against kaito and his hand clinging onto his shirt. "it's not your fault. he started it, didn't he?" kaito questioned, already knowing the answer. "not that. I mean... I got you involved." kaito ran the hand that was holding kokichi up and down gently along his arm to comfort him, his free hand reaching to stroke his hair. "don't worry about that, that's not your fault at all. I shouldn't have lost my cool. ...sorry again about startling you." kokichi shook his head. kaito felt kokichi's body start shaking, and he realised he was crying. "I'm the worst... I'm the worst, I'm the worst, I'm the worst." kokichi cried as he buried his face further and tried to hide away. "nothing's changed, I'm just as shitty and horrible and worthless as I always have been... I should've just... done things different... but I did the same as I always do..."
of course. kaito finally realised the real reason why he was so upset. sure he was upset over his ex showing up and the nasty things he'd been saying, but now that they were away from him he was more upset with himself than anything, because he'd worked so hard and he felt like none of that work had actually gotten him anywhere. he felt like change wasn't possible, because if he'd reacted that way then to him that surely meant that he was exactly the same as he'd always been, despite how much he'd tried.
"hey. that's not true and you know it." kaito was about to continue, but miu interrupted. "yep, that's bullshit. ha! if you think you're terrible, that guy sounds ten times worse! what a loser." gonta also spoke up, obviously very upset that anyone would raise their voice at his friend. "hmm... that not how gentleman should act. should be polite, even if ex doesn't like you."
"kokichi, we can all see how far you've come and how hard you've been working, so please don't beat yourself up over this one time. that guy is the one at fault, he put you in a difficult position, a really difficult position, and you wouldn't have reacted that way otherwise." kaede reassured him. "she's right, you wouldn't do that unless you felt you had no other choice." shuichi agreed as he handed kokichi some tissues. kokichi had calmed down somewhat, but he needed to get his emotions out still, so everyone waited patiently, offering words of support every so often, kaito still holding him and placing a few kisses on the top of his head, until kokichi stopped crying and pulled away, sitting up and drying his eyes.
angie jumped up off of the grass. "we should do something fun!" rantaro looked up at her from where he was sitting. "you mean like a distraction?" "nyahahaha! yes! doing something fun will help kokichi take his mind off things and feel better!" "do you have something in mind?" kiibo asked. angie thought about it for a moment. "hmm... nope!" rantaro sighed. "we shall just have to think of something, and we should also find somewhere else to eat as well." kirumi said as she stood up, dusting off the front and back of her dress.
ideas began getting thrown around and the atmosphere lightened up quickly - everyone chatting and suggesting fun things to do together, kokichi just quietly listening, but feeling a lot more comfortable again and appreciating his friends' efforts to cheer him up. it wasn't too long before kokichi was joining in, though, and everyone was relieved to see him slowly returning to his usual self; a bit immature, sometimes annoying, but funny, sweet, so full of life. kokichi was someone they'd all grown to love, no matter how things might have started out for some of them with him, and he wasn't at all who he thought he was when he was feeling down on himself. they hoped that one day kokichi would finally understand that.
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Text
Blended - 3
Note: Why hello - thanks for staying tuned and being here to check this out. Leave a note what you think. :)
Title: Blended
Previous installment here and chapter one here. 
Legend of Korra, Lin/Tenzin, Modern AU, no bending
Blurb: A modern AU with no bending where Lin finds herself with three kids, where Tenzin is Mr Big Shot CEO, where Mako is an overprotective son, where Ikki endears herself to Lin, where Bumi is the cool meddling godfather/uncle and where Pema is out of the picture.
Multi-part, WIP
---
Another teenaged boy joined the first boy and Lin.
Lin ruffled the other boy’s hair in greeting.
Probably noticing Tenzin’s thunderous expression, Jinora turned around.
The first boy gave a half-smile then saluted her. The young girl rolled her eyes as she smiled back and saluted.
Ikki, to his surprise, gave an enthusiastic wave that the boy returned. “Is Mako joining us?”
Mako. Tenzin filed the name away for future review.
Ikki knew him? Just how close are they…
Jinora shrugged. “Mom won’t let him.”
“Oh?” Tenzin’s tone of practiced disinterest came into play.
Jinora rolled her eyes. “He could be quite overprotective.”
Tenzin frowned as both girls turned their attention back to their meal.
How dare that slip of a boy even presume that he was going to do something unsavory.
Lin slipped back into the booth, carrying a root beer float with two straws. “Mako sends his regards.” She nudged the drink towards the two girls. “Anyway, so thought of any questions, sir?”
Sir?
Tenzin cleared his throat as Lin waited with an amused smirk. “You can call me Tenzin, not… sir.”
Not awkward, not awkward at all.
“Okay then, Tenzin.” The emphasis on his name was somewhat derisive.
“Hmmm, yes – I think Ikki would be in good hands.” He paused, thinking of questions to ask.
How is Mr Lin taking this? Where is he? Is he in the picture? Why isn’t he mentioned? Is he okay with having a sleepover at their house? Did he mind that there was a young pup hovering around his woman and child? Or, heaven forbid, is Mr Lin that boy?
He heard that plastic surgery does wonders, and some ethnicities do tend to age better than others.
“I take it you don’t have any questions?” Lin finished her drink by now. “Well, then. For tomorrow, we will be heading out anyway so I can bring Ikki to your house, or we can meet at the mall.”
There was a challenge there. After all, it was a conglomerate in the mall industry that was the root of the demise of their long-term relationship.
“Sure, let’s go to the mall.” And they agreed on a time and place to meet the next day.
Lin waved the waiter over and requested to have the leftover food of the girls to be packed home (“You’ll both remember your unfinished waffles later tonight when you’re finishing your project so best to take it home.”).
Tenzin motioned for the check.
“Already taken care of.” Lin nodded.
“You didn’t have to.” Tenzin mumbled weakly, putting his wallet back in his pocket.
He was met with a shrug. “Consider it as a belated welcome gift to this city.” Lin stood up once the leftover food was brought over by the waiter, and they all prepared to head out.
Tenzin was well-aware of the two boys from the other table following them.
“Mako, Bolin – please help Jinora and Ikki with their things while I get the car ready.” Lin walked over to where she was parked to turn on the air conditioning.
For his part, Tenzin led the children to his car, surreptitiously watching their interaction.
Ikki gave one of them (Bolin, was it?) a high five while Jinora was quickly exchanging words with Mako.
As he was pulling out the key from his pocket, a hand shot in front of him.
“I’m Mako.”
He shook the hand without hesitation. “Tenzin.” He clicked his key to unlock the car and opened the trunk, where the overnight bag of Ikki is as well as the other art supplies of both girls.
The other boy came forward now, extending his own hand. “Bolin here.” He grinned widely, a touch friendlier than Mako.
Tenzin grasped it and introduced himself as well. He handed Bolin one of the heavier bags while Ikki and Jinora went forward to get their lighter ones. Mako, meanwhile, hung back and was sizing him up from the looks of it.
Only, he wasn’t sizing him up apparently.
Mako moved silently to pick up the bulkiest of the materials so that Jinora did not have to carry it.
The young girl beamed up at him, saying. “That’s why you’re my favorite brother.”
Brother?
“Hey!” Bolin grumbled from the other side as he swung on his back two duffel bags. “What about me?”
Correction: brothers?
“You’re my favorite brother-friend.” Ikki punched his arm.
Bolin laughed boisterously while they went off to Lin’s car.
Ikki turned to face her father quickly who was bringing up the rear. “Don’t tell Meelo.”
Tenzin raised his hands in surrender. “Of course not.”
“Well, technically, I’m not your brother so…” Bolin wringed his hands worriedly. Thinking that maybe Tenzin would say something about it.
So… brothers.
Tenzin had a lot of questions while Lin and her children loaded the things of Jinora and Ikki into their trunk. The boys were a lot older than Jinora. Much, much older… Something that did not quite sit well with him.
Before he knew it, Tenzin was left at the parking lot as they waved good-bye at him as the car sped off.
 ---
Pema settled herself at a quiet corner in the coffee shop. She placed down her bag beside her and let the waiter place the tea tray on the table.
She checked the time on her tablet.
It was time for her weekly call with her daughter.
Ever since the divorce, she and Tenzin tried to figure out a way to co-parent despite being a couple of countries apart. One of the things they agreed on is that they were not going to let their children bounce from one household to another a lot during the school year. Another is that Pema would continue to consistently remain in contact with the kids through a weekly video call. This also linked to their eventual agreement that Ikki was to have her own (child-locked and parental monitored) phone.
It was something that Pema looked forward to every week.
For all the differences that she and her ex-husband had and the reasons that they went into the marriage, Pema does not regret her children with him.
“Hi Mommy!”
“Hi Sweetie!” Pema found herself smiling at Ikki’s toothy grin. “How are you doing?”
Ikki, as she expected, launched into this enthusiastic story about what she had been up to since the last time they chatted. When she was in the middle of gesturing and talking about her big sister-little sister project, other voices wafted into the call - voices that Pema was unfamiliar with.
Pema leaned closer to peer into the screen, brows furrowing, only noticing that the background of Ikki’s call was different.
In the background, someone (a male someone) let out a loud whoop.
Ikki paused to take a deep breath and Pema interjected. “Dear, where are you right now?”
“Oh-oh-oh! That’s what I was going to tell you next, Mommy!” Ikki waved her hands excitedly in front of her. “I’m on a sleepover with Jinora! At Jinora’s house!”
Pema was surprised but did not let it show. She did not want to dampen Ikki’s delight. She would not be that mother (she would not be her mother). And, well, at the end of the day, she did trust Tenzin’s parenting decisions. “That’s great. How is it so far?”
“It’s fun! She has two brothers. Two brothers, Mommy! And not two Meelo’s too. They’re very nice. Her mommy is really nice also – not like Korra’s uncle. Korra’s uncle is grumpy at home but nice outside. Jinora’s mommy is nice both outside and at home.”
Pema had to bite back a smile at Ikki’s commentary. Having crossed paths with Unalaq during her marriage with Tenzin, she did not particularly enjoy spending time with the politician. Everything was mostly for show and behind closed doors, to family, the man could be quite cold and standoffish.
There was raucous laughter from Ikki’s side and Ikki looked to the side, to someone or something off-camera.
“That’s Bolin, Mommy. Jinora’s older brother.” The view shook a bit as Ikki was likely moving her phone around to show her mother the view of the room. “And that’s her brother, Mako.”
Pema could see that they were probably in some sort of study room. Behind Ikki, there were two computers set-up, each with a teenaged boy sitting in front of it wearing a headset.
“And here’s Jinora.”
The view moved again and a familiar girl who she has talked to in previous calls waved at her. Jinora was beside Ikki and was in the process of gluing something to a small card.
Ikki placed her phone steady again and went into detail about the project they were working on, and Pema could see the door at her side opening.
“Bolin, Mako – no yelling, you know Ikki will be on a call right now.” The woman who entered the room hissed audibly at the teenagers.
“Sorry, Mom -.” The stocky boy started to apologize then trailed off, inaudible to Pema’s ears.
What struck Pema most, however, was not the amount of glitter that Ikki and Jinora were putting on their projects, or the two boys punching each other’s arm when they probably get a point in their computer game. No, it was the woman who stood watching their game, hands at her waist.
It was a woman that she has never met but was quite familiar with.
Pema was left pondering how her daughter landed at a sleepover at Lin Beifong’s house.
 ---
“OMG – is that – is that a background image of the Fire Ferrets’ place?  Where did you download that?! Can you send it to me? Pleaaaase! Didn’t know you’re a fan of the Fire Ferrets!!”
Ikki read and reread the message of her cousin Korra at their chat.
It did not make sense to her.
What background was she talking about?
She scrolled up to the last picture she sent which was of her and Jinora holding up their project with their final touches completed.
Jinora nudged her, noticing her preoccupation. “You, okay?”
Ikki wrinkled her nose, showing her phone screen to Jinora. “What’s a Fire Ferret?”
“My ears are tingliiiing - did someone say Fire Ferret?” Bolin jumped in between them, his hand cupping his ear. “You don’t know who the Fire Ferrets are?” At Ikki’s slow head shake, he clicked his tongue and placed his arms around the shoulders of the girls. “I can’t believe Jinora didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Jinora rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I don’t think Ikki would have been interested.”
“Don’t you put down her possible interest in esports!” Bolin flicked his sister’s nose with affection. “The Fire Ferrets is today’s up-and-rising, the ones-to-watch-out, most promising esports team!” He followed up with a faux-whisper, “At least that’s what eSports Unlimited.com says in their latest ranking article. Impressive huh?”
Ikki just blinked up at him.
Bolin did not let that deter him. “And, what’s more – you’re looking at one of them now!”
“Cut it out, Bo.” Mako sighed from his position at his desk, having taken off his headset. “I hardly think Tenzin would like Ikki to be exposed to the wonderful world of esports at her age.”
“And, you’ll be right at that point, kid.” All four of them faced the door, where Lin had peeked her head. “Tenzin would not be keen on prolonged screen time and neither would he appreciate if we bring his daughter back with darkened eyebags. Bedtime now, kids!”
The pronouncement brought a cacophony of complains.
“But, Mooom -.”
“Please Ms Lin – I-.”
“Mom, we’re too old to have a bedtime.”
“Kids – please, we’re going to need to wake up early.”
“We can still wake up early – our body clock’s fantastic.”
“No.”
“Yeah, we’ll even prepare breakfast for everyone.” A punch. “Ow! What was that for?”
A snort. “Speak for yourself.”
“I’m holding you all to that then. I’ll head on – good night, kids!”
A door closes and another punch. “What was that for, now?”
 ---
Little did they know, while Lin was having a smidge of trouble getting the kids to get to bed, across town, a certain businessman was having trouble sleeping.
After dinner and after tucking Meelo to bed (with two bedtime stories read), Tenzin found himself exhausted from the week (and day) he has had. And so, he had gone off to prepare for bed but was unable to find a comfortable position to sleep.
Who was he kidding – he had a lot of thoughts running through his mind.
Feeling restless still, Tenzin got back up from bed and went to pull out his laptop.
He scrolled through various folders until he found what he was looking for. His fingers tapped swiftly on the keyboard, the password a muscle memory. However, his cursor hovered over the ok button, unable to belie his hesitation and uncertainty.
Tenzin paused and asked himself if he really wanted to do this.
Eventually, he pushed through and out popped the window showing files upon files. Scanned documents, audio files, slide shows, videos, saved emails and photos.
One of the reasons why he managed to bring back the White Lotus Corporation to life is his tenacity, his dogged determination to see things through. Tonight, it is this same tenacity that brought him to go through his past as he started to go through old photos with one Lin Beifong. He went through the photos and emails – trying to see, trying to look for a clue at what point did Lin start showing or possibly start getting involved with the boys’ father, at what point in their relationship did he not become enough.
Tenzin would later come to wonder if he should have just let sleeping dogs lie.
---
Note: Dundundun. Misunderstandings upon misunderstandings – my favorite genre. Haha! Hope all is good with you reading from the other side of the screen. Just a note here – Pema won’t be a nasty bitch here, and no hating gonna happen. Trying to make this as light as possible, so no overly angsty~ plot lines. Crossing my fingers this experimental story works out fine haha.
Share your thoughts, theories, feelings, anything about this story with me. 😊 I am trying to get back to writing so this might not be up to my usual length or content. Happy to hear from you though.
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[SUMMARY: Negan and Deena have a child together but have recently separated. Negan becomes jealous of the new man in Deenas life.]
Drama
[TW: physical abuse mentioned.]
Negan and Deena.
Rushing between getting your two year old son ready for his father and yourself ready for your date made you anxious. Negan would be here any minute to pick up Jack and Michael would be here any minute to see you. Michael had taken you out on a few dates already and you had spent a lovely time with him. This was the first man you dated since Negan and you had broken up. He was the first man since Negan to give you butterflies. You had invited Michael to your home knowing it was Negans day to pick up Jack for a few hours and youd have the house to yourself. A home cooked meal and a movie is what you had prepared for him as he had always planned sweet things for you. The thought of these two men arriving around the same time made you nervous as Negan had no idea you had met someone. Sooner or later he would know. What did he care anyway? The two of you had been long done. What you didnt know was Negans feelings for you never stopped. The man regretted ever hurting you to the point of you leaving him. He didnt say much as he knew you were a woman who once made up your mind, it was the final choice. Yet, it killed him each time he came to see his son, you no longer acted as the woman he once knew.
Gasping at the sound of the bell you looked out the window to see Negans truck. Stuffing the bag with a couple of Jack's favorite toys you made your way to the door with him in your arms. You seemed to have forgotten how you were dressed as the second you opened the door Negans eyes glimmered at the sight of you.
"Jack had a snack not too long ago so he might not be hungry for dinner right away." You quickly began to explain. As he took the bag and carried the baby his brows furrowed as his eyes looked down at your body. A mauve colored sundress hugged your curves, it had been too long since Negan saw you dressed up this way.
"Where are you going?" Negan wasnt one to beat around the bush, he was quick and direct.
"I- I'm not going anywhere." You responded softly, as it was true. Negan standing at the door way didnt move a muscle.
"You sure as hell are dressed up for someone." His voice was calm yet stern.
"That's none of your business." You turned away quickly to grab Jack's shoes that were sitting on the steps behind you. Negan couldnt help but slowly lick his bottom lip at the sight of your backside.
"Isn't that the dress you wore that one night that-"
"Alright, Jack you be good now, ok?" You turned back purposely interrupting Negan making him smirk. He knew how much you hated his sexual remarks.
"Come on, you remember that night dont you?" His voice was low and almost dare you say, seductive. Of course you remembered that night.
"That was the night I just couldnt wait for us to get back home after your cousins party. Had to stop the car half way home to have you, then took you again when we came in through the door right on these very stairs." Negan grinned noticing you get hot, he could tell the thought still aroused you.
"Shit, the thought still makes me tingle."
"That's enough." You cleared your throat when you suddenly noticed a navy blue car pull up behind Negans car.
It was Michael.
Negan noticed the distraction in your eyes and turned around to see a tall built man making his way up the front steps. The feel of jealousy arose inside him like he had never felt before. Who the hell was this man?
"Michael." You smiled making Negan quickly turn to you. The sound of your soft voice so happily saying the name of another man struck a nerve.
"Hi, my love." Michael leaned in with a quick peck, your heart racing not sure what to expect from Negan when Michael turned to him and looked at Jack.
"Hey little man." Negan pulled the baby back in silence before Michael could touch him.
"Negan." You whispered.
"Who the fuck is this?" Negan of course was never one to bite his tongue.
"Negan. This is Michael. Michael, this is Negan the father of my child."
The look on Negans face as he slowly observed this man from head to toe was one you couldnt explain. Michael stared back at him with just the same intense glare.
"Michael." You whispered making him look down at you.
"I'll be right inside ok." You smiled nervously hoping he would walk inside and not instigate a problem with Negan.
"Yeah. Yeah sure." Michael responded as you stepped aside and let him in the house. Closing the door behind you, you scowled at Negan.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" You whispered at Negan.
"Oh relax I'm sure I didnt hurt Romeos feelings." Always with a sarcastic remark, Negan scoffed.
"Stop it. Just go and have a nice day with Jack, ok? I'll give you a call later to check on him."
Just as you turned back to the door Negan couldnt help but let curiosity get the best him.
"How long has this fuckery been going on?"
You sighed turning back to him with hesitation.
"A month and a half."
"You serious about him?"
You nodded, not that it was any of his concern, Negan looked away clearly not liking your response.
"How'd you meet him?"
"What am I being interrogated now on my dating life?" You scoffed.
"You seem to forget, sweetheart when you become serious about a man, that man steps into my son's life. That's where I come in and make sure hes good enough to be around my kid." Although Negan meant what he said, apart of him was also protective of you, still. A piece of him couldnt wrap his head around the idea of you with another man. You sighed knowing you couldnt argue on those terms.
"Michael works at the gas station by my job. That's how we started talking." Negan chuckled turning his face.
"How romantic." He muttered.
"Come on, Jack. Let mommy have her little date with Michael." His emphasis on his name with a disgusted tone.
Stepping back into the house you found Michael sitting on the couch watching a football game. He turned to you and quickly muted the tv.
"What's his problem?"
"Nothing. Hes fine, hell be back later."
You sat next to Michael with a sigh.
"That's just how Negan is, dont think too much into it." Although you did the exact opposite yourself, thinking over to yourself on how Negan looked at you. Thinking of the expression in his eyes when he realized you were with another man.
Negan lay Jack down for his nap and walked into the kitchen still feeling irritated.
"What's wrong with you?" Negans close friend, Simon asked.
"Deena." Negan uttered low as he popped a bottle of beer open and took a sip.
"Deena? What's going on with her?" Simon asked with a puzzled expression.
"Shes dating some prick she met at a gas station. Michael." He mimicked your voice as he said his name in clear annoyance. Simon frowned as he came to a realization of something.
"Which gas station?" He asked curiously.
"On 40th road, by her job."
"Hes got brown hair and a scar on his eyebrow?"
Negan took a sip of his beer as he stared at Simon in confusion with a raised brow.
"You know him?"
"Shit, I know Michael from around the town. He not bad."
Knowing Simon knew the man his ex was now dating didnt settle well in his stomach.
"Shit, that's comforting."
"Come on, it's not like you were anything. better." Simon laughed it off.
Negan ignored his comment knowing he wasnt an innocent man at all. Still, the thought of you with another man wasnt something he liked. The thought of what you and Michael could be doing at that very moment made Negans blood boil. The rush of jealousy he had never felt before coursing through his veins making it hard to not react. He never knew it would hurt this bad seeing you with another man.
It was late in the evening as Michael got his stuff together and was getting ready to leave. The day was filled with some emotional confusion for you, fighting certain thoughts in your mind, you couldnt understand why you were feeling this way. The memory of the night Negan took you out of this very dress stayed in your head all day long. Ever since he mentioned it, you couldnt help yourself. You didnt even have sex with Michael tonight, you couldnt. The guilt you felt knowing Michael was a good man and didnt deserve that.
You sighed as you locked the door, looking over at the time knowing Negan would be here soon with Jack.
He was there much sooner than you thought, before you could even walk away from the door you heard the bell.
Negan stood at the door with Jack asleep on his shoulder. He didnt say a word before walking past you and heading up the stairs to the baby room.
Negan never walked in like this, did he think Michael was there? Was he trying to make a statement?
"Negan." You whispered walking up behind him but of course he didnt listen.
Quietly he walked into Jack's room as he carefully lay him down while you waited outside with your arms crossed.
Negan stepped out and could tell you were a little flustered, the sight always made him smirk.
"What's wrong, princess? Lighten up." He looked down at you with playful eyes. Why was his look making you hot and bothered. He walked past you heading down the stairs into the kitchen helping himself to the fridge.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?!" You yelled forgetting Jack was asleep. This man was acting as if he owned the place, as if he this was still his home. As you paced into the kitchen he abruptly turned around purposely making you crash into him and gasp. His lip slightly curved at the feel of you so close to him, he could feel the heat of your body against his. His eyes wandering down to your lips. God you wanted him to kiss you but instead he leaned in close and whispered a tease.
"Relax, doll. I just want a drink." Turning away you let out a sigh. Why was he doing this? Why was it having this effect on you?
"I take it that he didnt know how to handle you in that fine dress." His emphasis on the word 'fine' as he turned to you leaning back on the counter.
"What makes you think that?" You asked confused as you watched his eyes drift down to your thighs.
"You still have it on."
Your cheeks grew red and hot, Negan couldn't help but grin.
"Oh stop." Your words came out breathlessly as you turned towards the counter on the other side.
"Stop what?" You could hear the seductive tone in his voice, you could hear the hard click of his boots on the floor as he slowly made his way behind you.
"Look at me." His voice was smooth, it couldnt be harder to resist. Slowly you turned around and quietly looked up at him. Negan knew exactly what he was doing to you.
"Tell me you dont feel it."
Your lips parted but you couldnt make a sound. You knew exaclty what he was talking about. The feel of the spark between you both, the emotional pull. Hesitantly you shook your head trying to ignore what he was making you feel. Getting lost in his eyes you knew you were losing the fight.
"Negan please." You whispered as he devoured you with his eyes when he suddenly pulled you into him making you feel his body completely against yours.
Making you feel his hard member press against you. You gasped as his breathing grew heavy.
"You feel it now?"
Of course you could feel it, it was driving you crazy inside. You knew you never stopped loving Negan. You didnt have to say a word for him to know and slowly he leaned his face closer to yours and touched your lips with his.
How did he have this much power over you? The feel of his arms holding you closer, his hand brushing down your back and grabbing your ass. You moaned when suddenly, Michael came to mind. Abruptly you pulled your lips away and turned your face.
"I-I cant." You whispered already feeling guilt. Negan sighed closing his eyes, you were so close yet so far.
"Deena. Deena I still love you." His voice was hoarse under his breath, you could feel your heart beating rapidly at his words.
"Negan.. I-" before you could finish the two of you were interrupted by the loud cries of baby Jack.
"Oh, I- let me go check on him." Turning away you ran upstairs leaving Negan alone in the kitchen. He looked down at the ground feeling defeated. Frustrated with himself he charged towards the door and walked out letting the door slam. You jumped holding the baby in your arms, running to the top of the steps to see Negan had left.
Negan wasnt angry at you, he was more than anything angry at himself. Angry for pushing you away, for hurting you and ever letting you down. Now because of his selfish ways another man was going to have you. He hated himself for this.
Since Negan had left you couldnt stop thinking about him. Thinking of his touch, his voice, the way he held you. You swore you'd never return to this man again it was crazy how one touch could make you forget all the bad.
A few days had passed now, you hadn't heard from Negan but you knew he would come by in the afternoon to pick up Jack. You found yourself feeling nervous, butterflies in your stomach at the thought of seeing Negan again. So lost in this thought that you completely forgot Michael would be coming over too.
Finishing up your hair the door bell rang and you knew it was Michael. You found yourself not feeling too excited to see him. Still, you greeted him with a smile and a kiss. Michael right away sensed a distance between you and him. He could feel the difference in how you kissed him, how you looked at him but he quickly brushed if off.
Following you into the kitchen he watched as you continued cooking quietly with your back to him. He couldnt help but notice you wore pants that were a bit transparent.
"You look nice in those pants."
"Stop, Negan." You giggled when you froze and realized what had just escaped your lips.
"What did you call me?"
The sound in Michael's voice was pure shock.
"Michael I- I meant-"
Michael stood up with a stern expression and walked up close to you.
"What did you call me?" He spoke slowly yet harshly, you could hear the cold anger in his voice.
"It was by accident. I dont know-"
"That's what's been on your mind all fucking day. That's why you been acting like this. Here I was thinking it was just me." Anger over took Michael's emotions, he felt disrespected in a manner he could not take.
"Michael, it was by accident. Please-" Suddenly you were cut off by a hard slap to your cheek. You gasped holding on to the stinging pain you felt, your hair had fallen over your eyes. You couldnt believe what he just did. Before you could say anything the door bell rang, it was Negan.
Composing yourself and fixing your hair you opened the door to greet Negan with a forced smile.
"Deena?" Negan looked at you with a look of confusion. You should've known this man knew you like the back of his hand. It didnt matter how you tried to act, Negan knew you better than anyone else had.
"You ok?"
Before you could respond Michael showed up behind you making himself known. The sight of Michael made Negan chuckle under his breath.
"Shit, I didnt even know you were here."
"Well, um let me go get Jack and his stuff for you." Still in shock with what had just happened you walked into the living room and finished packing some of Jack's toys in the baby bag. As you did Negan quietly watched you, Michael's eyes heavily on him especially as he watched the way he looked down at your ass everytime you turned.
"Come on baby, daddy's here to see you." You leaned over the playpen and picked up Jack before making your way back to Negan.
"Hey, little man." Negan excitedly took Jack in his arms as you stood back quietly. Apart of you didnt want Negan to leave. You had no idea what would happen when he did.
"Alright I'll be back around nine."
"Ok." And with what, Negan turned and left as you closed the door behind him. Taking a deep breath you hesitantly turned back to Michael to find him staring down at you.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. His apology catching you completely off guard.
"I cant believe I did that to you. Come here." Michael took you by your hand and pulled you in hugging you tightly. With your arms around him, you stood in confusion.
"You forgive me, dont you?" Michael sounded sincere but it felt so wrong.
Never in the five years you were with Negan, even through all his jealousy had he ever laid a finger on you.
"Yes." You whispered.
"I'm so sorry its just, I know Negan hurt you and I just got so angry that he was on your mind. He doesnt deserve to be on your mind. I was just trying to protect you."
Speechless you did not move, you couldnt believe his way of justifying what he just did was using something he knew had hurt you before. For the rest of his stay you were silent. Michael remained in a good mood as if nothing had occured earlier.
It was strange, you did not like the feeling.
You were relieved when he finally left.
Negan showed up at nine on the dot with Jack asleep in his arms. You quietly let him in and let him lay Jack in his crib upstairs.
Silently you sat at the kitchen table when Negan walked back in rubbing his face.
"I tell you, that kids got too much fucking energy." He yawned before noticing you didnt seem like you were listening to him. Making circles with your index finger on the wooden table, you didnt even realize he had entered the room. He frowned staring down at you.
"Deena." His tone was bold snapping you out of your thoughts instantly.
"Huh?" You looked up as he tilted his head, his eyes still on you.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." You shrugged as you stood up pushing the chair in.
"I'm just tired. I had a long day."
"You must've forgotten how long I've fucking known you to think I believe that." He chuckled as you brushed your hair back before his expression quickly turned serious.
"What happened to your face?" Any trace of humor immediately left Negans voice. Your heart sunk at his question not having noticed there was any mark left on you. You quickly turned away, Negan could tell how fidgety you became, he knew something wasnt right.
"Nothing I must've, I don't know-" you cut yourself off as you looked at the mirror on the wall and noticed a very light yet obvious bruising on your cheek.
How did Negan spot it?
Shit, Michael did really give you a hard hit.
Negan showed up behind you in the reflection of the mirror, his brows drawn together as he looked directly at you.
"Something you wanna tell me?"
Your eyes welled up but you held yourself together and cleared your throat.
"No, I must've hurt myself earlier and not realized it when I was cleaning out the closet. A book fell on my face, stupid me." You laughed nervously and walked past him. Of course, he wasnt convinced and you could tell.
"Listen I'm gonna go to bed now. I'm exhausted and I have to be up early. We'll talk tomorrow. Just close the door, I'll lock it after I change." You yawned casually walking up the stairs leaving Negan to think over exactly what he just witnessed.
You were lying to him.
Negan drove straight to Simon's house without notice, a gut feeling eating at him but he knew exaclty where to go. Heading to his door Negan knocked hearing Simon respond in a lazy manner.
"Who is it?!" Simon yelled before Negan responded. Opening his door, he stared strangely at Negan.
"What's going on?" Simon yawned as Negan stared at him boldly.
"Tell me everything you know about Michael."
Simon raised his brows as he had known Negan too long to know when something wasnt right. If anyone knew Negan, they knew he didnt let anything past him especially when it involved the protection of his child and the woman he loved. He swore to get to the bottom of it.
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Xenia meeting one of MC’s ex girlfriends. HC or Fic is good, some angst but lots of fluff, just give us some jealous Xenia please! x
Written by: @sapphics-choices
You take a deep cleansing breath as you stroll past the Autumn quarter. The council finally gave you a free day to relax. It was a bit disappointing when you found out that Xenia was meeting with her spy network so she couldn’t accompany you. That’s how you found yourself walking along the cobbled streets of the Autumn quarter. The cool breeze and the citrus-sweet scent of the air remind you so much of her.
You turned to a corner towards the tavern that you and Xenia frequented when a solid weight bumped into you. Fortunately, they were able to grab your arm, preventing you from toppling over.
“Goodness! I apologize, I didn’t see you—MC?”
You felt a jolt of surprise as you saw who bumped into you, it was her. Your ex-girlfriend, Isabel.  
“Isa?” you gasped, reverting back to your old nickname for her. The last time you saw her was when you were teenagers, barely 15 spans old. She was one of your classmates. One night, in the middle of the solstice, you kissed her. But before your relationship reached its anniversary, she and her family moved away to a different kingdom. You haven’t seen her ever since.
Well, not until today.
“It is you, MC! I never expected to see you here! Look at you, you’ve changed so much.” She was beaming at you with that delightful smile you remembered so fondly.
“I live in Altadelly’s now.” You inform her, which was a gross understatement. “What about you? When did you return to Lysende?”
“Oh, my family and I decided to visit some relatives here in the Autumn quarter for a few weeks. We just arrived last night, and I wanted to do a bit of sightseeing.”
You felt yourself comforted by her familiar presence. And before you knew it, you were sitting with her at the tavern, chatting like no time has passed.
“By the way, I heard some intriguing news. They said that the lost queen has returned to the throne. Can you believe that?” She said excitedly. You could feel your face heating up again, and you thought how lucky it is that you left your crown in your room before you went exploring. And that the staff here was very discreet.
“Yes. It was a surprise to many. Did you know that they initially thought it was Tansy?!” You said, voice betraying disgust as you recalled that unpleasant memory.
Isabel copied your disgust and after a beat, you both dissolved into giggles. After a few moments, you noticed Isabel gazing at you, with a smile playing on her lips.
“Is there something on my face?” You asked, Isabel shakes her head.
“No, it is not that. I have just really missed you, sun drop.” She says, using her old pet name for you. “Do you ever think about us? How we used to be?”
You felt yourself at a loss for words, this is not how you expected your day to go. “Isabel, I—“ you start to form an apology, stating that you’re happily with someone but then…
“Your Majesty.” Someone said behind you, and you jumped as you recognized who it was.
Sure enough, as you turned, Xenia was there, looking at you with an unreadable expression. Frost, how much did she hear?
“Xenia! Are you finished with your errands?” You hear your voice pitching high with nerves; Isabel looked at you and the Spy Mistress, confused.
“Yes, I thought I might catch you here in our tavern. But you seem to already be occupied.” You heard how she put emphasis on our. But her face remained a stoic mask.
She then landed her eyes on Isabel, and you know Xenia enough to recognize the small changes on her face that betrayed her actual emotions.
You saw her eyes narrow ever so slightly behind her veil, her shoulders growing stiff, the same way when she’s faced with annoying councilmen.
Finally, you remembered your manners and quickly stood up to introduce them to each other.
“I apologize, allow me to introduce Xenia, Mistress of the Spies. Xenia, this is Isabel. My…friend.” you hesitated on what to label Isabel, was she friend? An ex-girlfriend? You know that Xenia had noted that hesitation in your voice and did not offer any of her hands to shake but instead stared her down.
Isabel couldn’t look her in the eye and instead levelled her gaze on me.
“Sun drop, did she call you Your Majesty?” You felt Xenia tense behind you as Isabel again, used the pet name.
“She, is right here. And you heard it correctly. It is only proper to address the reigning monarch of the kingdom by her title, is it not?” Xenia replied. “Or do they not teach you that in whatever place you hailed from?”
Isabel was shocked, which is to be expected. But then shakes her head, and looked at me rueful smile on her face. “How ironic, we used to play princesses and knights when we were younger. And I was always your valiant knight, rescuing you from monsters.”
You let out a laugh at the sudden memory. “It is kind of a funny coincidence. Isa, I am sorry for not telling you immediately.”
“It is alright, MC.” She replied, with her easy smile. “Clearly, I missed out on a lot. Do not fret, this just gives us more time to catch up.”
You smiled back, but then you hear the tell-tale swoosh of Xenia’s elaborate gown as she quickly strode away from our booth. You couldn’t see her face but from the tense arc of her shoulders and how the patrons of the tavern practically jumped away from her when she passed them, you know she is upset.
Before you even know it, you quickly offered Isabel a hasty goodbye, and hurried to catch up to Xenia. But when the Spy Mistress does not want to be found, you will not find her.
Finally, as you reach the palace, you tried one last time to search for her, knocking on the door to her room, you were surprised to hear her quiet voice allowing you to enter.
She was perched onto a seat in a corner, staring at the tanks where her spiders live. But what concerned you was the look of utter sadness in her face.
“Xenia?” You moved closer, hesitant. “Is something the matter?”
She was quiet for a few moments, and as you thought that she was ignoring you, she suddenly speaks. With a voice that’s filled with bittersweet.
“She was your lover, was she not?” She said, staring at her spiders skittering about the tank.
“When we were young, yes. We ended things when she moved away.”
“But now she has returned and wants you back.” It was not a question. And it only confirms that she heard what Isabel said.
“It is what she implied earlier, yes.”
“Oh, believe me, darling. She wants you back. I can see it in her eyes. That sense of propriety in them when she looked at you. As if you would run back into her arms the minute she says so.” Her voice was becoming louder now.
Then it hits you, “Are you jealous?”
“Of course I am, silly girl! You are brilliant and kind. As soon as you ascended the throne, every noble wanted your hand. But for some reason, you still chose me, a foreigner with a horrible reputation. A pariah. I couldn’t understand why, despite knowing what I did to you, to Val.”
Her voice hitches as she mentions his name, as it always does. You reached out to offer comfort, but she stood up and started pacing.
“I thought I was lucky. Of course, I did. I could only hope that a star that shines as bright as you would even deign to shine your light on me. And when you did, I feel like the luckiest woman alive. So I’ve accepted it, basked in it. However, in the back of my mind, there is this horrible, terrible voice whispering that one day, one day, you will finally see the dark, twisted being sleeping beside you and leave. Perhaps you will get swept off your feet by some dashing prince or your long lost love would return.”
She gazed at me, meaningfully. Eyes heavy with sadness but I can also see a note of bitter acceptance.
You walked towards her, taking quick, deliberate steps and held her hand firmly in your grasp. Your eyes gazing straight into her deep eyes.
“Listen to me, and I will only say it once.” You said, voice firm but gentle.
“I understand that you are afraid.” She quietly scoffs at that, but you continued on.
“You lost your first love. You have been hurt many times, in ways no one should ever be. You had to build walls around yourself so that it will protect you from all of it. But Xenia, I am here now. I have seen all parts of you, but I stayed. I know what you are capable of doing, the things you did, but I remained because I also see what amazing, loving, protective woman you are. So believe me when I say that I am never going away. I may have loved Isabel in the past. But it remains there, in the past. It does not compete with how much I love you now.”
You felt Xenia’s handshake, quiet tears rolling down her eyes. You long to reach them, to wipe them away and she must have seen that desire in your eyes because she gently guides one of your hands under her veil and laying it on her soft cheek. It was impossibly warm as the rest of her is, and you gently wiped the tear away. Finally, she kissed the palm of your hand before you let go.
She leads you to her bed and a few minutes pass as you both lay cuddling under the covers when she finally spoke again.
“I apologize for worrying, and storming away like that.”
“To be honest, I was slightly pleased to see that you are also capable of angry storm outs like the rest of us common folk.” You laughed.
She groans quietly against my shoulder.
“We are never returning to that tavern again.”
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Secret Santa fic!
Heya @all-eternity it was me all along! I hope you enjoy this :) very much looking foward to actually being able to follow you after this without looking sketchy lmao
Also shoutout to my lovely beta reader @keepersandqueens as if I don’t talk about Salas enough here lol
Warnings: underage drinking, drinking in general, hangover, drugs/medication mention (not abused, basic over the counter stuff dw), mentions of vomit (not described)
Pairings: Kam, background marelinh, ex titz
About: Kam coffee shop college au 
Word count: 5,205
Tag list (tell me if you want to be added or removed): @cadence-talle @ruewen-and-rising @lemontarto @a-lonely-tatertot @clearlyvacksen @percabetn @sewersewersewercouch @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @enbies-and-felonies @blxckh0les42​ @rainbowtay-11 @callas-starkflower-stew @impostertamsong @appalyneinstitute1 @stars-and-splendor @anna-without-an-e @mistythegenderqueermess @we-have-no-bananas-today @we-wont-dissapear @jadenightthewriter
Tam stumbled into his first 8 am class, anxiety making his heart feel like it was pounding out of his chest and stomach doing backflips.
If he could survive bouncing between foster homes, a short stint at juvie, and worst of all high school, he could survive college.
Well he thought he could until he saw a familiar person right next to the only available chair in the room.
God fucking damn it.
"Hey Bangs Boy!" Keefe waved him down, causing a scene. Tam had no option but to sit beside him, both because of the lack of chairs and the fact that everyone was now staring at him.
Not a great start.
"What a coincidence! I notice you still haven't taken my suggestions on your hair, I'm telling ya' you'd get all the girls and or guys and nonbinary pals with a man bun." Keefe looked smug at the fact he'd be able to taunt Tam for another semester, minimum. Tam was already making a mental note to check when he could swap out of classes.
"Keefe, if I knew you were going here I would've just gotten myself back in jail, oh wait, you were the one who got me in there in the first place." Tam shot him a look, praying that he'd suddenly develop superpowers and shoot lasers from his eyes.
"Hey, just because I came up with the idea...and helped with some of the execution, doesn't mean I'm responsible for you trashing your parents house. Besides, you were only in there for like 3 days max before you got out," Keefe said, shrugging as if 3 days in jail was no biggie.
"Most peaceful 3 days of my life," Tam sneered, turning back to the front of the room as the professor walked in.
"Good morning class!" the prof turned to the white board, writing his name. "I am Dr. Harding," he tapped it for emphasis.
The class was silent.
"And you say good mor..."
"Good morning Dr. Harding," The class said in unison, they all sounded tired and bored.
This wasn't going to be fun.
~*~
"Grande ice vanilla latte for...Hen-are-y?"
The man shot Keefe a look as he grabbed his coffee.
"Henry." He dropped a tip in the jar, fifty cents. How generous.
He had come in before, and never left good tips. Keefe made it a game to pronounce the names of anyone who wasn't a college student and left bad tips wrong, no matter how much they came in. It was a wonder he hadn't been fired yet.
As he turned preparing another drink, the bell at the top of the door rang. He ignored it at first until he heard a quiet, "Fuck," come from behind.
"Bangs boy!"
"Why are you here?"
"I work here obviously," Keefe walked up to the counter. "Now, what'll it be?"
Tam sighed. "Iced caramel macchiato with two extra shots of espresso."
"Size?"
"Venti."
Keefe whistled thinking about how much caffeine that was as he wrote down "Bangs Boy" on the cup.
"Alright, that'll be 5.75, may I ask why the insane amount of coffee? I believe I remember you saying caffeine makes you anxious in high school."
"Yes, but it also helps me focus, and I have a quiz tomorrow I haven't studied for."
"Fair enough," Keefe said, going to prepare the drink. "It'll be ready in five."
Tam nodded, walking off to the side and scrolling on his phone. Keefe made the drink, occasionally sneaking looks over at Tam. He didn't seem to notice, thank God.
Soon after, they finished the transaction.
"See you at class," Keefe said, he was trying to be genuine, but it came across more taunting.
Tam grimaced, muttered "Thanks for the coffee," and walked out the door.
~*~
The class fell silent as a disheveled Dr. Harding walked in, a pack of gatorade in one hand and bottle of tylenol in the other. He popped one as he sat down.
"Hello class it seems today I have the worst headache imaginable, just give me about 5 minutes of silence and we will go over your assignments."
Keefe leaned over to Tam's desk.
"Well, we know what he got into last night," he whispered. "Heard the bar on the corner of 5th was giving out two for ones for professors."
"Isn't that place run by the alumni?"
"Exactly. Gotta thank Alvar tomorrow, Fitz said it was his idea."
"Wait Fitz goes here too? Why did I not-"
"Boys!" Dr. Harding practically yelled. "I am tired of the racket." He put his face in his hands where his elbows rested on the desk, bald spot showing to the world.
"We were whispering!" Keefe made a 'what the hell' sort of gesture. Tam glared at him, hoping he could communicate 'I will kill you myself if you say another word' with just his eyes.
"Sencen, do I look like I care?"
Keefe winced a bit at the use of his last name. That was something Tam could understand.
"Look, boys," Dr. Harding stood up and turned to the chalkboard, writing something down. "If you all like talking so much, you'll love this next project."
He walked to the side, revealing the board, that read '10 page essay, due the 25th'
"With the person next to you, you'll be writing a 10 page essay on um...the importance of keeping your oil changed in your car. You'll then present it to the class. It's worth 25 points."
A student raised their hand.
"Luka?"
"Sir, I thought this was a psychology course?"
"It is. You are all excused."
With that, he left the room with his tylenol and gatorade in his arms. The students glared at Keefe and Tam as they all got up, muttering amongst themselves about the pure bullshittery of it all.
"So..." Keefe said, slowly standing. "Does the library tomorrow at 3 work? I have work until then, so it can't be any earlier."
"Yeah, sure." Tam promptly walked out of the classroom as fast as possible, he didn't know why but his anxiety was spiking. He tried to tell himself it was just because he was a useless gay that didn't know jackshit about cars, yeah, surely that was it.
Just a useless gay.
~*~
Tam waited at a table in the library, it was 3:05, Keefe was late.
He didn't know what else he expected from him, he always seemed to do stuff like this. At the same time, Tam didn't have the energy to be particularly mad at him. This was going to be the stupidest essay ever written in the history of man, might as well put it off.
The library door slammed open, and in came Keefe. He balanced a large stack of papers and books along with four drinks. He stumbled over to Tam and practically threw them down on the table.
"Sorry I'm late, I thought it would be nice to, like, get you a coffee, but I didn't know how much caffeine you wanted, so I got one decaf caramel macchiato, one normal, and one with an extra shot, and also hot chocolate for me."
He sat down in the chair by Tam, as if getting three different coffees for someone you were forced to do a project with was totally normal.
"Um...thanks, I-I can pay you back-"
"Don't worry about it." Keefe turned to him and smiled, bright and friendly. Tam was frozen. "Okay, now it's car time." Keefe turned back to the desk.
"Yeah."
They were silent for a while as they researched, Keefe going through his piles of papers and books and Tam on his laptop like any sane person would.
Tam finally worked up the nerve to talk.
"So um...this is out of nowhere, but I think you mentioned Fitz went here?"
"Oh, yeah." Keefe put down the absurdly large textbook that was set up in front of him. "He's my roommate, he uh thought it would be best not to tell you after everything, I guess."
"That's fine," Tam shrugged like he didn't care. "I'm over it."
He was, really. They only dated like 2 weeks, sure it ended with a...pretty big fight after Fitz claimed he wouldn't be able to date someone who had gone to jail and Tam reminded him it was his best friend that got him in there in the first place, but he was still over it. There was still something bothering him, nothing to do with Fitz himself but...something. He just couldn't put his finger on what.
"Alright, I'll take your word." Keefe shrugged, setting his giant book back up in front of him.
Tam felt the need to start talking again, but didn't. They were mostly silent for the next 40 minutes or so, just researching and the occasional word exchanged between them.
Keefe checked his phone.
"Shit," He got up. "Work emergency, I gotta go. Same time tomorrow?"
"Yeah that works."
"Chill, see ya' later."
"Bye."
Keefe waved (with a wide grin Tam would've called idiotic in high school) as he went out the door.
Tam found himself with a smile on his own face, he quickly stopped, hoping no one saw.
~*~
Keefe hurried into work, pulling his apron on as he saw the absurdly long line and a panicked Marella frantically making coffees behind the counter. She sighed with relief when she saw him.
"Thank God," She said as he stepped behind the counter with her. "There was a scheduling error, Forkle's useless at that stuff."
Mr. Forkle, their well-meaning but often mistaken manager, was out of town at the moment. The fate of the Starbucks rested on two college kids, what could go wrong.
And so they went, Keefe taking orders and Marella fulfilling them until there were no more to serve.
Marella, quite literally, threw in a towel she had wiped her face with. Promptly going to the back, presumably for her break. Keefe followed her.
"Alright, I think you can probably go back to whatever you were doing before this now if you'd like," said Marella, inspecting the small braids in her hair in the nearest shiny surface.
"Nah I was just doing a project with Tam for Harding's stupid class, he's probably left by now, I might as well rack up some overtime."
Marella turned back at him, clearly caught off guard at the name.
"Tam? As in my-girlfriend's-brother Tam? As in you-had-a-massive-crush-on-in-highschool Tam? As in dated-Fitz Tam? As in you-got-him-in-jail-"
"Yes! Yes! Why does everyone remind me of that, it was one time."
"When you get someone in jail, people tend to remember," Marella went silent for a second, thinking, before looking Keefe in the eye. "Wow, that must be awkward as hell, I mean seriously, if I were you I'd straight up file a restraining order just to avoid him. Maybe move to another country. I hear Estonia is lovely this time of year."
"Eh, it's not as bad as it seems. I mean it was awful at first, mostly because I tried to resume right where we left it on the taunting front, but I think it's ok now."
"Hm. Well good luck with that," Marella turned back to go to the front, but Keefe grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Uh, actually I need your advice on something. It has to do with Tam."
"Shoot."
"Well I was thinking of maybe, I don't know, asking him out or something? Look, yeah, it's an awful idea but is it 'he never wants to talk to me again' awful or 'he attempts to strangle me' awful?"
Marella looked him up and down, eyes uncomfortably cold, as usual.
"I mean, no hetero, but despite your annoying qualities you're a decent looking guy. Plus Tam's, like, super anxious according to Linh, so maybe he'll be too awkward to say no. You can probably squeeze at least one date in there."
"Wow, thanks Mare," Keefe mumbled, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Yes, I try. Also don't call me Mare."
"Alright Ella!" Keefe called as the front door's bell rang, signalling a new customer. Marella went off to take care of it, unable to respond she growled back at him.
~*~
Tap tap tap tap tap.
Tam glared from across the table.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap.
"Why do you keep doing that?"
Keefe looked up, muttered a simple "Fidgety" and went right back to it, tapping his pen against the table. Tam said nothing more.
Keefe had been quiet for this entire meeting, something highly unusual for him.
"Ok, seriously dude, what's up? I haven't seen you this quiet literally ever."
He only seemed to get more fidgety at this question, his bouncing leg shaking the library table.
"I...um..." he looked down, running a hand through his hair "I have a test I need to cram for and no one to study with and keep me accountable. Y'know, ADHD issues."
Tam didn't overthink for once in his life but the moment the sentence was out of his mouth he regretted it.
"I have a test too, maybe we could study together?"
Keefe smiled his annoyingly charming smile.
"Sounds good."
"Good."
Tam quickly looked back down at his computer, trying to look like he was still doing car research when in actuality he was processing he just actively offered to spend more time with Keefe Sencen.
If Linh found out about this he'd never live it down.
He didn't think he cared.
~*~
Dr. Harding walked through the classroom door, clearly much less hungover than his last appearance.
The students waited, would they get an apology? Any sort of remorse?
"Alright, who wants to read first?"
Apparently not.
Keefe raised his hand with too much confidence for what their essay looked like. Tam gave him a confused look. He had his scheming face on, never good.
"Mr. Sencen!" Keefe winced at the use of his last name by the doctor. "What an amazing start, it's only appropriate. One of you boys come up and present."
Tam gave Keefe a look of 'do you want me to do it?' Keefe just smiled and got up from his chair. This would either be really good or really, really bad. Tam was all too familiar with the scheme face.
"Doc, I did depart from the source material a bit here, hope you don't mind. And I use 'I' because Tam had no involvement in this, he deserves full points for his essay."
Keefe cleared his throat, the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
"Doctor Harding deserves to get fired: an essay. (And it's only been a week!) Paragraph one, his drinking problem-"
"Sencen! Back to your seat now. I will see you after class, or I will not see you in my next class, understand?"
Keefe gave a thumbs up as he sat back on his chair with a thud.
A few minutes later, in the middle of another student's essay, he passed Tam a note with his loopy handwriting.
"The amount of comebacks I had for 'see me after class' is absurd but if I get kicked out there's no way Elwin is helping me pay tuition a second time."
Tam tried not to smile, certainly failing, as he wrote his response.
"Yeah I think the time you talked back to Miss Cadence she wanted to expel you. Lucky Principal Alina had a thing for pseudo-dad Alden."
"Oh God I haven't talked to him in a whiiiiiile."
"?"
"You haven't heard? Yeah, he sorta found out like ALL his kids were ell gee bee tees and freaked out. Della found herself a new gf though!"
"Sounds like a lovely extra punch in the gut for a queerphobe."
"Yep. Honestly I recommend looking through his Facebook sometime. Just a million rants about how the gays destroy everything, great entertainment."
"Duly noted."
At that point it seemed like the doctor started to take notice of their note passing, and they stopped quickly. Tam wouldn't be surprised if he did the whole high school read in front of the class thing with the way he had been acting so far.
Tam was 100% sure tenure was the only thing keeping this guy's job intact. Apparently being a drunk asshole wasn't near enough to get a person out of their position. He tried to ignore the professor's annoyingly smug face for the rest of the class.
~*~
Keefe sat in his usual spot at the library, Tam sitting across from him, his brown eyes dancing across the textbook page and lips mumbling along the words. He didn't have much to do, often finding himself just staring at Tam, quickly looking away if he seemed to notice.
Eventually he sighed, sitting back.
"Ugh, this test is in a week and I have so much other crap to do, I'll never get this all memorized by Friday."
Keefe silently thanked his brain for managing to get around the having to study thing. Yay, photographic memory!
"Oh, uh, well I'm free to study more tomorrow if that would help? We could do, like, flashcards or something."
Tam seemed to repress a smile. He did that a lot. Keefe always noticed.
"That's okay, I'm sure you have better things to do. The Starbucks is always pretty packed."
"Eh, sometimes you have to get away from Marella. She's mean to me."
"Not just you, once she told me if I ever made fun of Linh's cat's name again she'd make me cut off my own bangs."
Keefe nodded sagely. "The shorter you are the closer to hell. That's why you're worse than her."
"Hey!"
Tam flicked a stray rubber band at Keefe.
"I'm at least 2 inches taller than Marella...we measured."
Keefe thought up about 12 inappropriate jokes he couldn't make before flicking the rubber band back.
"Two inches only counts in roller coasters, none of which you can ride."
Tam stuck his tongue out before returning to his studies. Unlike Tam, Keefe didn't hide his smile.
~*~
Tam strolled into the Starbucks that Friday morning, no longer surprised to see Keefe working the counter. He could barely hold still in line as he thought about the amount of cramming he'd have to do in the next few hours.
When he reached the counter, Keefe said nothing, just busily worked making a drink.
He stuck it right out at Tam.
"One venti iced caramel macchiato with 2 extra shots of espresso because you have a test today in political science and still haven't studied everything and also a muffin because you probably haven't eaten today. On the house. Good luck with the studying."
Tam froze.
"I- um- th-thaks. Y-you too...sport."
Oh, you fucking idiot.
He quickly scurried out of the Starbucks with drink and muffin in hand. Wow, he had screwed that up.
But...
Keefe...
He...
He remembered his order and that he had a test and that he forgot to eat when he was stressed holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit-
Okay, deep breaths Tam, you got this. You can totally handle a frustratingly cute guy showing care for you this is fine...
Not fine, not fine, gotta tell Linh.
He called Linh with no forewarning. Despite the fact that she was currently across the country at a different university, and it was about 3 am for her, she picked up. He barely let her get out a groggy "Hello?" before explaining everything. She only seemed to think a moment before responding.
"Hm. Well it's good to know that college is going good for you. Do you need advice or comfort?"
"Yes."
"Well, first of all, everything's gonna be okay. And I know that doesn't help much but just try to remember we're eighteen, and it's not the end of the world. Second of all, try to ask him out or something. It doesn't have to be framed as a date, like Marella and I got together on a walk in the park, seriously it can be anything."
"Thanks Linh."
"No problem, also can you hug Marella for me?"
"If she doesn't try to kill me first, yes."
"Nice. Okay go do what you gotta do, also don't wake me up at 3 am again or else I'll sic Purryfins on you, I had just gone to bed."
With that she hung up and Tam continued on his way, still trying to not completely freak out.
~*~
Keefe stared blankly as Tam walked right out of the door. Marella appeared by his arm.
"So, how'd it go?"
"Well, he called me 'sport'."
Marella inhaled through her teeth.
"Yikes. Comfort, advice, or distraction?"
"Distraction, please." Keefe replied, absent-mindedly preparing a cup for the next customer.
"Uh, well I meant to ask you what ended up happening with that ass of a teacher, but I got a bit distracted at your attempt to woo Tam-"
"Hey I said distraction not reminder. But basically I just got a slap on the wrist because, and I quote, 'Your father is Cassius Sencen! He wrote half the books we use in this class, I'm sure he can straighten you out!'"
"There's absolutely nothing papa Sencen could do to make you straight, I'm pretty sure he tried that, and it obviously didn't work."
"He actually tried a few times and it most definitely did not. Lucky he doesn't have my number anymore or else I assure you he'd keep trying."
Marella laughed.
"Well, moving on from grade A assholes, I'm supposed to tell you there's a party tonight. I'll have to send you the address later, I have it on my phone though, I am told there's gonna be booze, so I'm going."
"Eh, I'll probably go. Just to get my mind off everything."
"Thata boy." She lifted her phone. "And my shifts over in three, two, one, and I am out of here! See ya' tonight Hunkyhair."
"That's Lord Hunkyhair to you."
She just rolled her eyes and clocked out, leaving Keefe to deal with both the customers and his own thoughts.
~*~
Tam sat in his dorm room alone, constantly refreshing his grades for the possibility that his 70-year-old professor would post the test results at 1:30 am.
His roommate was gone for the weekend, actually he was gone most of the time. Tam didn't think they'd even had a full conversation before.
He jumped as his phone began to ring, a call from Keefe of all people. He hesitantly picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Tam! Tam Tam Tam Tam Tam" Keefe's slurred speech was too loud for a phone call, Tam held his phone a bit away from his ear. "...fuck wait why did I call you..."
There was a long pause, neither said anything.
"Oh yeah! I needed to tell you something...but uh I uhm I forgot what it was."
"Keefe, where are you?"
"At a paaaaaarty, well, actually just outside a party because it was hot in there, but now it's cold out here so uh yeah."
Tam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Okay, send me the address, I'm coming to pick you up. Wait right there and don't move."
"Okie dokie."
Tam heard a thud sort of sound and the rustling of grass from the other line before Keefe hung up and soon after got a message of his location.
After 20 minutes of walking in the cold, Tam came up to what seemed to be a frat house with Keefe sitting on the lawn in criss-cross, patiently waiting in short sleeves and basketball shorts, way too little clothing for the weather. His ruddy face smiled as he saw Tam approach.
"Tam! I remembered what I was going to tell you." He stood up, face falling right after. "Oh no wait I forgot again. Ooh! You need a drink."
Keefe grabbed Tam's hand, pulling him towards the house. Tam stayed in place.
"Hey, let's get you home dude."
Keefe pouted.
"I don't wannaaaa."
He slouched down, pulling on Tam's arm like a child having a tantrum.
Tam pulled him back up to his feet.
"C'mon, if you go to your dorm without fuss I'll buy you ice cream tomorrow."
Keefe seemed much more ok with going along with Tam with the ice cream deal. He pulled off his own coat and placed it around the very drunk boy, he didn't complain.
Keefe began humming some annoying song from the early 2000s that was playing from the house earlier as they walked back in the direction of the dorms.
Suddenly, Tam remembered something.
Fitz was Keefe's roommate.
Shit.
"Hey uh do you think Fitz is at your dorm?"
Keefe nodded confidently.
"Yep! Said he was gon' study. Wouldn't come to the party because of his 'reputation' or whatever."
Around reputation he did exaggerated finger quotes, nearly knocking Tam's jacket off his shoulders.
"Hm...in that case let's go to my dorm, ok?"
Keefe shrugged, apparently willing to go along with most things in his current state. Thank goodness Linh had made Tam bring extra pillows and blankets to college, he could sleep on the floor and just hope Keefe didn't get sick on him in the night.
It was ridiculously hard to lead Keefe back to his dorm. He tried to pull down his pants halfway there and Tam almost had to carry him up the stairs but soon enough they got there. He sighed with relief as he led his inebriated friend into the room.
"Okay, you can stay here for the night. I'll sleep on the floor."
Keefe plopped himself down on Tam's bed laying flat for only a moment before sitting up with a snap and a look of realization in his eyes.
"OOH! I remember what I was gonna tell you again!"
"Oh?" Tam said playing along, expecting him to forget again.
He patted the spot next to him on the bed, Tam continued to play along, sitting next to him.
"So Marella said that I should just tell you this, and it worked for her, so I'm gonna. And uh and you have to promise to listen 'cause I'm not sayin' it again."
At this point Keefe grabbed his face with both hands, staring right in Tam's eyes and squishing his cheeks.
"You're listening right?"
Tam nodded, mostly to shake Keefe's hands off his face.
"Okay."
Keefe took in an over dramatic breath as if he was preparing to preform in the Olympics before getting another grin on his face.
"I really like you."
"You really like me?"
He nodded mumbling "mhm".
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I like you. Like, like like you."
"Like...as a friend?"
"I said I wasn't gonna repeat myself. As a booooyfriend." At this point Keefe fell back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Tam's cheeks were burning.
"How long have you liked me like that?"
"Mmmm..." Keefe seemed to ponder for a moment, "Prolly high school."
"Oh um...good to know. You should get some rest. I'll be down here if you need me."
"Alrighty."
Tam shut off the lights and Keefe started snoring quick. Tam could only stare up in the darkness, unable to sleep.
~*~
Keefe woke up that morning in a room he didn't recognize to a killer headache and dead phone.
He turned to the side, seeing a pile of blankets and pillows with a large gatorade, bottle of tylenol, and a note next to it. Suddenly last nights memories came flooding back.
Oh, shit.
He scrambled out of bed, headache and nausea hitting him harder as he stood up.
Despite the fact his head was spinning, he picked up the note from the ground and read it.
Hey, meet me at the reservoir around 6, we need to talk -Tam
F. U. C. K.
Had he really said all that stuff last night? Surely it was a dream, right?
Oh God.
He gathered his few belongings, plus the things to help the hangover, and left the dorms as fast as possible. Only having to stop once along the way to throw up in one of the campus trash cans, hopefully no one would notice.
Keefe didn't have anything to do and he really didn't want to face Fitz so he went about his day in last nights clothing. Then again, it was a college campus. Someone walking around with rumpled clothes carrying a gatorade probably wasn't that big of a deal for most people. By 5:30 he sat impatiently in the empty park where the reservoir was located, it was colder closer to the water.
Just as promised, at 6 o'clock he saw Tam approaching on the horizon.
~*~
Tam was damn near a panic attack as he walked around the park attempting to find Keefe. Eventually he found him, sitting on a bench still in his clothes from last night, face once again ruddy from the cold. He sat next to him wordlessly.
"So," Keefe started.
"So," Tam replied, looking down at his lap.
"Tam I-" Keefe turned to face him. "I'm sorry about everything last night, I probably just made everything super awkward. Not to mention it's a giant violation of the friend code to even have a crush on your best friend's ex-"
"Yeah, about that."
"What?"
"You're gonna maybe kill me for this but uh," Tam pulled on his bangs. "I sorta talked to Fitz about it, I figured you wouldn't and apparently I was right. He said he was okay with it as long as we were ok with it."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Tam sighed, "Perhaps."
Keefe once again wore that shit-eating grin of his.
"Can I hear you say it?"
"Why don't you have to say it?"
"Already said it last night! Your turn now. Why did you take care of me while I was drunk?"
Keefe stared at Tam excitedly waiting for the answer. Tam sighed.
"Because I love you, little shit."
"Ooh you said it-"
Tam smashed his lips against Keefe's, both quickly melting into it. After only a moment they pulled away.
"Agh, you taste like gatorade and vomit."
"Well you taste like salt so really what's worse."
"Definitely the vomit."
Despite this, Tam leaned back in. This kiss was a moment longer than the last, and when Tam pulled away Keefe chased it.
"Ok, look I'm sorry but you look like shit Keefe you have to go change." Tam removed his jacket, throwing it around Keefe once again and helping him up from the bench. Keefe laughed.
"Yeah, you're right. Ooh now that we're a thing you need a new nickname!"
"I do?"
"You do, how about 'Bangs Boyf' ooh or maybe you can be my 'provoked partner' or my 'snappy spouse' my 'agitated accomplice' perhaps."
"Do you just have these ready and prepared for any situation?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets."
"You aren't Houdini, you're an 18-year-old boy that currently reeks of frat party."
"Eh that's basically the same thing. I've seen some 18-year-olds at frat parties preform tricks Houdini could never dream of."
Tam sighed dramatically. "It's a good thing you're pretty, you know."
"Hey!" Keefe jokingly shoved him.
For the first time Tam's smile wasn't repressed.
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BROTP Lily and Sirius messing with James 👀👀
@midnightelite I love them!!!  I am celebrating We Can Be Heroes having over 100,000 hits on ff.net ( it’s also on ao3 We Can Be Heroes) so here is a drabble as promised, I hope you like it! Lily would be very pregnant here in May 1980 but it still works, I think...
                                                                            Evans Strikes Back
(anything in italics is a quote/almost quote from Star Wars!)
“I love that film so much! You’d definitely be Leia,” James said, brushing the popcorn off his orange T-shirt and giving Lily a besotted grin, as they wandered out of the cinema and into the warm sunshine, shading their eyes. “You even have similar names!”
Lily tossed her auburn waves back and grinned.
“Most likely to call someone a stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking… nerf herder? Yeah, sounds about right!”
Sirius burst out laughing.
“Touché, darling,” he said. “Although I think that I fit the part of Han Solo so much better than Prongsie here?”
His grey eyes sparkled as he winked at Lily.
“Well, obviously,” said Lily, matter-of-factly, popping a handful of crisps into her mouth.
“Huh?” said James, looking between them in horror. “That’s… that’s so not true!”
Sirius’ eyes widened in disbelief and he let out a loud snort.
“Eh, trust me, Prongsie, I’m the dashing, handsome heroic chap around here. There’s only room for one scoundrel, and that’s me!”
Lily tilted her head to one side as though deep in thought.
“Yeah, no, have to agree with you there Padfoot,” she smirked. “Prongsie’s just too… innocent? Naïve, or something?”
“WHAT?” James said, the look of pure terror on his face rapidly replaced by a coughing fit as the inhaled popcorn went down the wrong way.
“There, there, old thing,” said Sirius, lazily slapping James’ back with more force than was strictly necessary. “You see? I saved your life just there, no big deal, whereas-“
“Fuck you!” croaked James, his eyes still watering from the near-death experience that the two most important people in his life seemed to be treating as some sort of a joke. “Evans! Prongsie??? Since when… you have never, ever, called me-“
“It suits you, is all,” said Lily, planting a chaste kiss on his cheek and grinning at him.
“No it bloody well doesn’t!” said James, folding his arms and glaring at her.
Lily tried to ignore the way her heart picked up as she stared at his arms. His beautiful biceps, his pecs stretching that T-shirt, and his gorgeous forearms…
Sirius gave her a dig with his elbow and raised his eyebrows.
“Well, you have to admit, Sirius just has this…” she rolled her wrist expressively. “This air about him…”
“I really do,” said Sirius, beaming at his (ex) best friend proudly.
“No you fucking don’t!”
“I think you’d make a great Luke, if that’s any consolation, Prongsie,” Sirius said, blinking at James with infuriating innocence.
“I fucking hate Luke!” said James, throwing his arms out to the side as though to emphasis his point. “Like he’s fine, but…he’s a sap! He’s… he’s just too annoying!”
“An annoying sap, eh?” said Sirius, looking at Lily with a thoughtful frown.
“You know, now that you mention it…” said Lily, her emerald eyes shimmering.
“Fuck you!” said James, trying not to laugh as he saw Lily biting the side of her lip.
“Laugh it up, fuzzball,” said Sirius, ducking sideways as James’ foot aimed for his arse.
“I hate you both!” said James.
“You see, the way your hazel eyes sparkle with adoration while you look at us tells a very different tale,” said Sirius, staying just out of reach of his friend’s long legs and shrugging his shoulders as James made a rude hand gesture at him.
“I’m going to get you both back, wait and see!” James said, narrowing his eyes.
“Two to one? I think those are poor odds, Prongsie!” said Sirius, backing away, nonetheless.
“Never tell me the odds!” said James.
“Aaaah!” said Lily, screaming with mirth as James managed to wrap his arms around her waist and began tickling her gently. “Alright, alright, you win!”
“I’m shocked at your behaviour, Mrs Potter!” said James, grinning widely and kissing Lily behind her ear and down her neck.
“Hmmm,” said Lily, forgetting what she was meant to be doing as she wrapped her arms around James’ neck and stared into his eyes. “I’m such a shockingly bad wife.”
Sirius rolled his eyes.
“Oi! Evans! Back with the programme!” he called, throwing a charmed paper airplane at her head.
“I think you’re going to have to make it up to me, Mrs Potter,” murmured James, pulling her in closer, his lips hovering above hers, tantalisingly near.
“I love you,” Lily said with a cheeky grin.
“I know,” James said, eyes dancing with mischief.
He yelped as Lily pinched his sides repeatedly. “Help!”
“Woof! Woof!” said Padfoot, bounding over to them and practically knocking James down in his excitement.
They screamed and laughed as the huge black dog wagged his tail uncontrollably, wrestling with James.
“That’s not fair!” screeched Lily as both James and Padfoot started dancing around her. “Help me, Remus John Lupin! You’re my only hope!”
“What?”
“Where?”
The two boys, momentarily distracted by her frank lying, failed to notice as Lily Evans Potter hopped onto the nearby double decker bus and it began to pull out.
“Hey!” said Sirius, planting his hands at his side.
“See you at the beach!” she called holding onto the pole as she stepped onto the bus and waved cheerfully. “No cheating! Muggle transport only!”
“Hang on!” said James, glancing around at the single bicycle beside them.
“I’ll give you a crossbar,” said Sirius, grabbing the bike. “We both know you’re shit at cycling.”
“Ugh! Fine! Only cause you’ve more practice with the motorbike!” muttered James, grabbing onto Sirius’ shoulder to steady himself, his long legs cramping up.
Sirius huffed breathlessly as he tried to keep up with the bus.
“Would it help if I got out and pushed?” Lily called out, one hand protectively placed over her bump as she beamed at them.
Sirius tried to lift his hand off the handlebars to make a V-sign, but the bike wobbled precariously, and James yelped again.
“Lily Evans Potter is something else, isn’t she?” said James, staring at the red-head as she blew him a triumphant kiss and disappeared inside the bus.
“My best friend? Damn right she is,” laughed Sirius. “Impressive, most impressive!”
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