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#i apparently bought so many snacks in the past
greyias · 4 months
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A run of weeklies or two to grab a bunch of gray items to throw at unsuspecting party guests? Check. The last known stacks in the galaxy of non-legacy bound snacks for sharing? Check. Inventory stupidly full? Check. Me and companion decked to the nines? Check.
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Aw yis. Ready to party. (On Saturday.)
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leafyaa · 11 months
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Chapter 7.
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In the past few days you had to stay at the hospital until your legs regained full movement again. 
In the meantime all of your friends visited: Heizou, Sara, Itto, Kuki, Thoma with his  (boyfriend) and your boss Ayato and even Gorou visited with his superior Kokomi!
And of course Kunikuzushi who came by every day (actually he almost stayed the entire day at the hospital to make sure you were well cared for).
Like he actually brought you homemade food (with the excuse that hospital food was not nutritious enough), stuff to fill your boredom (because it was apparently unhealthy to do nothing all day) and a bunch of snacks. 
And if you were being honest, you kind of appreciated it.
You started to appreciate his help since the day he saved your life. 
Even though you didn't show a sign deep down you felt so warm every time he came by to see you and ask how you were. 
After a few days of staying at the hospital you left with a bag filled with stuff your friends gave you and a bunch of stuff Kunikuzushi bought you. 
You were kind of concerned that you were draining his money but he said he didn't mind. Telling you he had enough, which somewhat made you have a lot of thoughts about that. 
Currently you are being helped by him getting into his car so he could drive you home. He insisted on helping you get home because 1. You had a lot to take home, 2. The bus station was way too far away and 3. Because no one was there to help you out. You were reluctant about it, but he said to trust him, so you kinda did. You felt as if the old Kunikuzushi was back, the one you fell in love with for the first time.. 
You regained full movement of your legs again however, you still feel wiggly after days of not being able to walk so that was also kind of the main problem. 
"Be careful now.." Kunikuzushi whispers as he catches you from almost falling from the sidewalk to his car. 
Your face turns deep red and you mutter a small 'I know!' but a small smile appears on his face unknowingly. 
"Do you feel comfortable?" Kunikuzushi asks as he helps you put on the seat belt. 
"Yeah, I do." 
"Alright, do you mind if I turn on the radio?" He asks as he puts on his own seatbelt. 
"Nope."
So Kunikuzushi leans over and turns on the radio and starts to drive off.
"And today we've a new update on the Fatui kidnapping and murder case in Konda village."
Your ears immediately perk up at the mention of your village and you start to listen attentively.
"The syringe matches with the fluid the victim was injected with which makes the two Fatui guilty of attempted kidnapping and drug facilitated assault. Therefore originally the two Fatui members should've been charged with the death penalty, however an unidentified individual has murdered them which leaves the question if he also needs to be charged with a crime. Currently an investigation is still ongoing to find out who this individual is but until then all residents of Konda village have been warned to stay vigilant when going out at night."
Your mind starts to dwell on the fact that the most dangerous Snezhnayan organization was close to kidnapping you.
You unconsciously start to shake a little bit and Kunikuzushi notices it. Spending no time on putting his hand on yours to calm you down.
"I'm sure the Tenryou Police Force will start surveying the area for your village's safety." He says, reassuring you in the process.
You nod quietly and sigh. 
It was a scary situation to be in after all. Was it that you were targeted or purely coincidental? 
But aside from that, the second thing on your mind was not so surprisingly Kunikuzushi
You've never mentioned his name to any of your friends really, only Heizou, Sara and Thoma knew somewhat about the 'asshole' that left you with a baby. Though you yourself never really wanted to call him an asshole because you believed he had many reasons to leave you, such as your annoyingness, busy schedules.. 
"So.." You begin hesitantly. "When will you tell me where you've gone to?"
Kunikuzushi straight up ignored your question, making you scoff in irritation. Surely he could at least tell you the truth, right? 
But before you can say something Scaramouche muffles your mouth, making you let out angry noises.
"I already told you you need to rest first. Don't make it harder for yourself." He says gently as he drives with his left hand.
"What the fuck? So you expect me just to accept you without any explanation?" You laugh in disbelief as anger starts building up. You expected him to explain himself after he entered your life again out of nowhere, but all you're getting is anything but that. 
"Y/n that's not-"
"Fuck you.. Really, I fucking hate you." You mumble and slap his hand away, looking away. Were mood swings part of the side effects of whatever shit those Fatui fuckers injected you with? Probably.
He was still avoiding the question that had you thinking for years. What a coward.
Kunikuzushi feels a bit saddened deep down but continues to drive with an unbothered look. Deep down he knew you deserved an explanation, a much better apology, everything.. But it wasn't the right timing yet, it was also better to keep it hidden. 
After a while of driving you arrive back at your village. He parks his car in front of your house. 
"Y/n?"
"What."
Your cold voice sends him shivers down his spine. You are obviously still mad because of him. 
"Can we.. Possibly be friends again? Not lovers-! I just.. I just want to be friends with you again.. Nothing more.."
"And why would I? Why would I become friends or even acquainted with someone who doesn't even want to tell me the truth? Who fucking left me when I needed him the most huh." Your words made him feel immense guilt. Sure you kept bringing the past up again but you really wanted answers.
"I-I swear I wasn't in the right mind I- I've changed now! I understand my mistakes and I want to make up for it! Please.. Please let me prove it to you.." His voice.. It sounded so genuine at the moment.. Your eyes slightly soften as you watch his pleading face, almost on the verge of spilling tears. It reminded you of what happened 10 years ago.
"I've always loved you Y/n.. Please let me prove it to you.. I understand if you still hate me and you're.. You're right with doing so.. But let me beg for your forgiveness, let me show you I am really sorry.." His voice cracks at the end, making you feel pity at the sight of him begging. 
"One month." 
"H-huh?"
"One month to prove yourself."
"R-really?"
"Don't make me change my mind." You mumble, somewhat feeling stupid to fall into his charms once again. But you swear it was just that innocent kitten face he made that made you change your mind for a bit- Argh, you were getting frustrated with yourself! You were starting to tear up yourself and you hated yourself for that. Why could you not say no?
"However.. You must promise me that you'll be truthful from now on. I'll hear you out once you're ready.. But until then.. Please don't leave me again.." Your voice cracks and you look away, refusing to cry with him watching as your tears are rolling down your cheeks.
"I swear I won't.. I won't.. I.. I promise.." Kunikuzushi exclaims as he quickly wraps his arms around you. The same way how he always has embraced you. 
You feel his comfort. 
You feel his warmth. 
But most importantly, you feel his genuine love. 
Maybe giving him a chance was a good decision.
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Notes:
Y/n is allowing him to get closer to her again, seeing he is really apologetic. But what is he hiding from her?
Okay but anyways the thing is I'm so lazy bc I hate how you can't copy and paste all tags. I probably would post sooo much faster if I didn't have to add the tags one by one ughhh
Summary:
You've dated Scaramouche in your high school and college years but just as you wanted to announce your pregnancy to him he broke up with you without any reason. He left you to be a single mom for 7 years. But now that your daughter has been missing and abducted for a year and you've not been doing well and out of a sudden he showed up into your life again trying to apologize for his past mistakes..?
Taglist:
@swivy123 @kichiyoshi @wwwrizchan @k1t0 @killumeo @pinkdreamerbailifflawyer-blog @samarill @xiaotopia @aqualesha @eattingshits @omoriaddict @mave-in @sketcheeee @xiaossocksniffer @elernity @ohmyfinggod @izukusshuu @divinechicha @arrowximpack @kaoriee @scaramochies @ekriis
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rainbowsky · 2 years
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Taste Test: Bubly and Chinese Lay's
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For a bit of a change of pace, I figured I'd write about some snacks I recently tried.
Apparently these are the two most popular Lay's flavors in China, so they've been made permanently available here.
As we all know GG is a snack lover, and he especially loves Lay's chips. He used to endorse them a while back and there have been occasional rumors that he'll be endorsing them again (they never materialize into anything).
I've seen photos of GG eating cucumber Lay's in the past, but unfortunately I couldn't find any for this post.
Here's one of his old ads.
The man can make even chocolate covered potato chips look appetizing.
I am actually glad that he doesn't endorse Lay's anymore, because I have a weakness for Lay's potato chips and I don't need any extra excuses to indulge!
Western Paranoia
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They really want the consumer to know: while these are Chinese flavors, they are made in Canada! Don't worry, honorable Canadian, these were made in a trusted Canadian factory with trusted Canadian ingredients, not in some shady Chinese factory where who-knows-what is being thrown into the mix! 😅
Cucumber Lay's
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These chips were a real shocker. I don't know what I was expecting, but these look like sour cream and onion chips, and they taste... like cucumbers. Not like pickles or marinated cucumbers or something, but like cucumbers plucked fresh out of the garden.
They also smell very strongly of fresh cucumbers, the moment the bag is opened. I found it off-putting.
...
I respect that these chips exist, but I wouldn't choose to eat them. 😅
My partner, on the other hand, has already devoured half the bag. I'm at least glad they won't be going to waste!
Verdict: 1/5 🏞️🏗️🏗️🏗️🏗️
Chicken and Tomato Lay's
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Chicken and tomato... I was trying to think of any occasion in my cooking where I would put these two ingredients together, and I really couldn't. Maybe in a chicken taco or something? Or Chicken Parmesan (which I'd probably never make)? It seems such an odd flavor combination to me for some reason.
These taste exactly like tomato and chicken, and it's surprisingly good. The chicken flavor is savoury and the tomato flavor is a bit sweeter, so those who are into the whole 'sweet and salty' thing might really enjoy these.
My only complaint is that they are a bit too sweet for my taste (sweet in the way store-bought ketchup is sweet, as opposed to sweet like candy). I am much more into savoury flavors than sweets, and this was just a bit over the edge of sweetness to where I don't think I could eat many of these.
Verdict: 2/5 🐞🐞🪳🪳🪳
Blackberry Bubly
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Wow, I was NOT expecting how amazing this would be. It is fresh and fruity with absolutely no sweetness. It smells as good as it tastes, too, and fills the air with the refreshing smell of berries.
I have always scoffed at the idea of paying for what is just flavored club soda. It seems perverse and excessive in some strange way. But when I tried this I immediately knew that I was going to be buying more Bubly, without a doubt.
And then I reflected on it some more and realized, pretty much everything we drink, whether tea, coffee, ginger ale or whiskey is all just flavored water in the end.
The fact that this is really simply flavored is a feature, not a bug.
I love that there is a delicious, refreshing fizzy drink option that has no sugar and absolutely no sweetness (nor any chemicals or food colorings). Bright and clean and flavorful. This will be perfect in the summer.
The funny thing is, I don't even like blackberry. At least, that's what I thought before I tried this. Blackberry wouldn't have been my first choice by any stretch of the imagination. But the only single cans available were blackberry and lime and I felt lime was too generic a flavor to really get the 'Bubly experience'. After all, club soda with lime is something I'd probably normally drink in the summer.
But the blackberry is absolutely delicious. So fruity and refreshing.
I can now confidently buy the grapefruit Bubly I've been eyeing every time I'm at the grocery store. I'm sure I'll drink every can. Maybe I'll post about it once I've given it a try...
Verdict: 4/5 🛼🛼🛼🛼⛸️
Anyway, hope this was interesting. If I come across anything else that I think is relevant, especially if it's something GG and DD endorse, I'll try to do something like this again.
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jackiewepps · 1 year
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Jackie in Japan - Kyoto (Second Visit)
Yes, I'm saying second visit because this is not my first visit to Kyoto. I was there in February 2018 for just a weekend. If anyone is interested, I still have the diary entry from that day, so I should be able to make a report on what I did.
But enough about the past. Here is the present.
As this was my second visit, it was very hard to find new things to do and new places to see. I mean, not a lot is left when the purpose of the first trip was to cover as much as possible in two days. Still, there was something.
I went to Kyoto by shinkansen and believe it or not, that was actually delayed. I met with a friend from my home country who is an exchange student at a university in Kyoto and we went around together.
When I have brought up Kyoto and asked for recommendations, most people mentioned Kiyomizudera, which I have seen, but they also mentioned Arashiyama, which I have not seen. So we went there.
It was okay. We went to the bamboo forest there and it did look very nice. We spotted a lot of people in kimono and wondered whether there was some sort of festival going on, but never found out. No, they weren't maiko. There were too many, they were too spread out and it looked too casual if you ask me. But I could be mistaken.
After Arashiyama we agreed to go to Fushimi Inari Taisha (Fushimi Inari Shrine). I've been there before, but as it's apparently near the university my friend goes to and I wanted to see that, I said we could go see it. I'm happy I did.
Night had fallen by the time we made it there. It was completely dark, but the shrine grounds were well lit up. You can still see the autumn leaves and at the shrine, the trees were lit up so it seemed like they were glowing orange. There were also lamps shining down on the path to the shrine with figures of foxes and autumn leaves. My friend and I walked around the shrine grounds, but we didn't go very far as it was dark. We did pray though, and bought candied strawberries at a small shop next to Inari station. They tasted really good, so if anyone ever visits Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, I highly recommend stopping by there and buying a snack.
After this, we went back to the labyrinth that is Kyoto station, I bought souvenirs and dinner and then went home. That was the end of my trip.
I had a really good time, even if it was my second time visiting and I'm very happy that even if I did go to a place I had been to before, it was a whole new experience and in a way, I think it was more memorable than the last.
If anyone is interested in hearing about my experiences with shinkansen or about my first trip to Kyoto, please let me know.
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pbandjesse · 2 years
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And with that, camp is over! I already have rose colored glasses for it. And I hope that I just can focus on how many good things happened this year, even if logically I know it was she's. And!! Jess is back in America. So I am in a good mood.
I slept really well last night. I fell asleep pretty fast. Though I did get woken up s few times because my foot was in a lot of pain. But it's not as bad tonight.
When I got up I felt very cute. I wore my new quilted pants. I was in an alright mood. James made me toast with the apple bread I bought. And walked me to the car.
They biked off and I headed to camp. I had a great drive and felt good. I got there around 815 and got things ready to go. I was in a good mood.
I chilled in my hammock and chatted with people as they went past. Then I was like ready for my first group. When I realized I did not have a group. Because there were only 8 day camp groups today. And group 9 was on my schedule. Oops. So I got another hour to chill.
I would work on my beading project. And cleaned. And got a few more things packed up. I had a snack and soon enough my day really started.
The kids made good work. And they were all really fun. I got to work on my beading and have silly and weird conversations. It was really a good time honestly. I enjoyed my coworkers. The weather was beautiful. It was a great day.
I had lunch at the office. And would go and get a chocolate bar from the trading post. I got a few hugs saying goodbye in case we didn't see each other. And it was a nice way to spend the day. Made me feel a little more like this summer was good.
My afternoon groups were sweet. A day camp, stockade, tipis. We made sculptures and the boys painted, and tipis made shields and hung out in the hammocks. We had a lot of laughs. And tipis helped me bring all the tables and chairs inside to be stored for next year. I really appreciated the help.
All through the day I was in contact with Jess. Her flight was cancelled. And that wasn't even the first thing that went wrong. The airport security wouldn't change check when film and put it through the x-ray and probably ruined all of it. And then they got to their gate and the plane showed up and minutes before boarding they canceled it. And then they were able to get another flight in three hours. But there was no gluten free foods except rice. Poor Jess.
She would finally get on a plane and got back at 730. Where they discovered that their suitcases were all the way back in Dublin. Because they had been loaded in the original plane. I warned her about checking a bag with the way everything has been. But shit. At least they know where it is and apparently it will be back to her in a few days but Jesus. The stress. Not a great way for a trip that was already very stressful to end.
I spent the next couple hours after tipis left cleaning, labeling, sorting string, making lists. Laura came to hang out before she went to get the camo award she was working towards. I was so proud of her. I would bead her patch all special. And signed her little book. I hope she comes back next year.
I would spend that time just enjoying her company. But I also very much wanted to go home. They said we were doing camo cleanup until 830. But Heather said I could go whenever because I had done so much cleaning already. And so once I was done me and Laura ran around giving more hugs to anyone we could find. And then I was off.
I ran away from Laura when she was going to cry. Crying was unacceptable. I told her how glad I was we met and happy birthday (her birthday is next week) and that I hope she has an amazing year at school. And she kept saying you aren't saying goodbye!! And she walked me to my car and waved me off before she could cry for real. I really hope she does come back next year.
I waved to many people on my way out. And on my drive home I felt a lot of. Good about this summer. About the connections I made, and the good work we did. Like there was nonsense and food issues and scary times. But so much of this summer was good. And that feels good.
I got back here and James helped me bring things inside. And then I was so tired. James made us hotdogs. Vegetarian and not. And we chilled for a while.
James would put a lot of stuff away for me. And I did some myself. I would also put away some clothes. James helped me fold things. I want to go through everything on Sunday but for now it was good and made me feel a little more settled.
I took a very good shower. Used my new body scrub. And now I am cuddled up in bed. Feeling very tired. I touched up my toe nail polish and took off my fingernail polish. Maybe I'll do them tomorrow.
I have the market tomorrow. And then I want to take a nap. And like the weight can leave my shoulders.
Goodnight everyone. Take care of each other. Sleep good!!!
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subpar-ghoulfriend · 3 years
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Let’s have a baby
yandere!EraserMicx PREGNANT!Reader 
A terrible mix up leading to an accidental pregnancy? Or something more intentional? Either way now you were pregnant with (none other than the beloved power couple heroes) Eraserhead and Present Mic’s child. Time to discuss how co parenting is going to work. 
TW: pregnancy, artificial insemination, yandere elements, mentions of stalking, alludes to potential custody battle
You had been avoiding the two men for the past week, which was challenging seeing as they managed to find your phone number, address, and place of work. Any time you blocked their calls they got a new number. Two Pro Heroes versus a twenty something civilian, it was only a matter of time until you were cornered.
Now the couple stood between you and your apartment. You had a long shift at your job as a pet groomer and just wanted to get some rest.
Present Mic was the first to speak. "Hey lil momma, we heard you had work today so we brought you some dinner. We thought we could talk over a nice meal."
You had no response. You were tired, both physically and emotionally. You had been put through the ringer ever since meeting them at your doctors office. It was a total Jane the Virgin situation. You went in for an assessment about some supposed ovarian cysts and unknowing left artificially inseminated. There was a supposed mix up, a digital glitch that somehow merged your chart with the surrogates - apparently your names were super similar. Two weeks later you were called back into the doctor's office and informed of what took place. And now you were in this living nightmare.
And the two heroes had nothing to do with the error. There was totally a surrogate. They hadn't paid off your provider. And why would they? You had never met them - although given their patrols they may have seen you once or twice...
They were tearful when they were informed of the mix up, they had been waiting patiently through the whole process and now everything was thrown in chaos. They offered to compensate you for your service which sent you into a blind rage. They just assumed you would carry a child, a child with half of your DNA, and then give YOUR baby away. Rationally you understood that they had planned to be be the only parents to the child, but that was with a professional surrogate who understood the process, who didn't want the child in their life, just happy to help out a loving couple. But that wasn't you, you grew up wanting to be a mom, and now they would take that from you.
What if they tried to legally take sole custody of the baby? Surely they had some pull in the judicial system. Besides, they were a solid couple with money, while you were alone with no family and working two jobs. The thought made you sick to your stomach.
You were shaking as you tried to push past them. Maybe they would just disappear if you ignored them, a girl could dream. But instead they tagged along inside. Albeit you weren’t fighting them on it, you knew this had to happen eventually.
Aizawa easily found the cluttered dining table in your small apartment. You flinched when the loud one tried to help you shrug off your backpack. Taking a seat on the couch you waited for them to start berating you.
"Come sit at the table, dinner is getting cold," Eraser spoke for the first time.
"I'll eat later, I'm not hungry."
"You may not be, but the baby needs to eat."
You glared, how dare they insinuate you didn't know what your child needed. If your body was hungry, you ate. If you were full the baby was full too.
But, you complied, not wanting to argue, "Fine, but I ate a snack not too long ago."
As you ate, Mic kept you company, picking at some left overs, they clearly ate before their visit. Aizawa was rummaging through your place but you managed to hold your tongue until he began throwing things out of your fridge.
"What are you doing?" You hissed, getting up out of your seat.
"Mic and I will bring you groceries tomorrow. The food you have is barely safe for an adult, let alone a fetus."
"Are you kidding me? It's not like I'm chugging alcohol and living off Twinkies. Hey! I just bought those turkey slices. How is turkey bad?" You whined.
To make sure you wouldn't dig the food out trash he dumped it out of his container.
"Zashi, don't let me forget to empty the trash on our way out. Do you know how much salt is in deli meat? And there's no way you can drink any of this while you're pregnant." He gestures to the cans of soda.
As the frustration built you had to fight back tears. They couldn't come in to your home and start throwing out your things.
"Some of us don't make ridiculous money, I'm buying what I can afford and the doctor never had any problem with my health." You hissed.
Hizashi felt the tension thickening, "Hey hey hey, it's okay. Sho and I will go get you some good stuff. We just gotta watch out for you and baby."
And that was the end of your resolve, you stomped past the Hero and locked yourself in your bedroom. Finally tears began to drip down your cheeks.
Back in your kitchen Mic was chiding his boyfriend for being so tough on you.
"So I should just back down while she stuffs herself with junk food?"
Mic gave him a shrug, showing him a bottle on your counter, "At lest she's taking her prenatal vitamins?"
Grabbing the keys to your apartment Aizawa instructed Mic to wait with you while he got you better groceries. He would make copies of your keys on his was back.
You prayed they would leave soon. You were laying in your bed having cried yourself out. Barely into your second month of pregnancy. You still had to endure this for at least seven more months, but most likely much longer.
Next thing you knew you were opening your eyes and the clock read seven AM. By now your uninvited guests must be gone. Nervously you sat up, praying that you'd skip the morning sickness just once this week. You had always had a weak stomach and even the doctor was surprised you were already experiencing the symptom. Unfortunately the minute your feet touched the floor you knew what was coming. You sprinted to the restroom, not even checking to see if the duo had left.
God this was terrible, you didn't just hate throwing up, you were terrified of it. What if you started and never stopped? But it did come to an end. You wiped the water from your eyes and took a moment before standing from the floor. You screamed when a hand slid under your arm, helping you up. Another set of feet rushed to the bathroom.
" What's wrong?" Hizashi huffed as he skid to a stop.
You pulled arm free from Aizawa's grasp. "What are you two still doing here?"
You turned in the faucet to rinse your mouth. Trying to calm your stress, the nausea was trying to return.
Undeterred the scruff pulled your hair into a bun before rubbing your back. You debated returning to bed but that wouldn't get them out of your apartment. You told them you need to sit down, both of them nodding, still wearing their concerned expressions. They got you a glass of water before joining you on the couch. Stubborn men, you sat at the end of the couch so they couldn't both sit, but Mic decided to perch himself on the armrest.
He started petting your hair, "You feelin better little listener?" You nodded in response.
"I got you more food, let us know if your hungry."
You sighed in defeat, "I'm barely two months pregnant, I can fend for myself. What did you all want to talk about?"
You anxiously placed a hand on your stomach. Both men felt their hearts flutter recognizing your maternal instincts kicking in.
Aizawa let Mic begin, he was the more gentle of the two.
"Well, we figured we got off to a rough start. You got put in a tough situation. We shouldn't have assumed you didn't want a child so we're not mad at how you stormed out. But either way we expect to be in our baby's life. The two of us talked it over and we don't want to fight you if you want to be in their life too. So if you wanna be the mommy we're cool with it."
You could blame your reaction on your hormones for your response but you didn't, "Geez thank you so much for allowing me to be in MY child's life."
Aizawa placed a hand on the back of your neck, giving you a gentle massage. "Okay then, the three of us are gonna have a baby. That means you have to stop ignoring us. We can raise the baby together, without involving anyone else. But if we have to, we can always go the legal route for the baby's best interest." 
He knew it was a low blow, but the couple needed you to stop fighting them. Your eyes snapped to his and you shook your head in protest.
"Okay then we're all the same page," Aizawa reassured you.
Mic cheered, "Now we can focus on the fun stuff."
"Hun," Eraserhead caught his attention. "There's still a few more important things to figure out. We don't want you going back to that doctor. They're incompetent. We scheduled you an appointment with another's clinic for next week. Okay?"
You couldn't find your voice after how easily he threatened to take your baby. So you just nodded. Half listening.
"Good. We also went ahead and programmed our numbers into your phone. We need to be able to check in with you."
"Okay, but I can't use my phone at one of my jobs."
"About that lil momma," Mic started. "You work a lot, which is totally bad ass, but we don't think you leave enough time to rest and take care of yourself."
You tried to protest but Aizawa cut you off, "You also shouldn't be working around so many animals. Even though we love animals, they can be unpredictable and one dog can trigger all the rest into a frenzy."
You were dumbfounded, "I've never heard of anything like that happening. One of my coworkers was pregnant last year, she worked until her maternity leave. Plus I need to be able to pay my bills. And don't offer to compensate me again."
"Why do you have to view it as compensation? We just want to take care of the mother of our child. Just think about it. Mic and I have to go take care of some business but we'll be back later this week."
---
Back at their home Hizashi was dramatically splayed on their bed.
"Babe why are you pouting?" Aizawa asked.
"Why can't we just bring her home already?"
Aizawa sympathized with his better half, but they needed to be methodical. He reminded Hizashi that they didn't need to cause her even more stress, especially so early into the pregnancy. If they played their cards right they would have their happy little family soon enough.
If they could ease you in to the relationship everything would be easier in the long run. They had been managing just fine until now, they could wait a few more months.
He joined Hizashi on the couch. Mic was comforting himself the way he usually did when he felt like this. He was scrolling through the countless photos they had collected since their chance encounter with you over a year ago. 
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epigstolary · 3 years
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Realization
...help you? Ha ha, you want help. Okay... Babe, how have you not figured out what’s going on here by now? You not being able to get out of bed on your own has kind of been the point all along.
No reason to look so shocked. I mean, you had to know something was up at some point. Most people wouldn’t keep shoveling food into their partner’s fat face once they’ve ballooned up a few hundred pounds. You really didn’t think anything unusual was going on when you hit five hundred pounds, and I started to pick up the pace with your meals and portion sizes? I could have sworn you did.
No, most people would have pumped the brakes once they got that big. It’s easy to forget how big a quarter ton is for regular people — most can’t even imagine being that size. But you blew right past it. I guess it’s probably easier when you have someone to take care of getting all your food and finding clothes to fit all the new fat that invariably follows. I was expecting that something — the heavier belly, the thickening thighs, the water-wing arms, something — would get your attention, though. But it never seemed to faze you.
Most partners probably would have sounded the alarm at some point, too. They would be worried by the warning signs of worsening morbid obesity, like when their partner got out of breath waddling from one room to another. When they got hungry again right after a big meal. When they needed help washing everywhere because their fat rolls were too heavy to lift on their own. When they got too big to fit in a standard car or in the clothes I bought, no matter what size they were.
Instead, I made all that stuff sexy. I pampered you and sympathized while you were catching your breath. I treated you with extra snacks and kissed your engorged belly while you ate them. I turned shower time into our time for a little naughty fun while I was diving into your rolls anyway. And I took care of any trips so you didn’t need to go out, and could lay around the house in your skimpy underwear looking ravishing as ever.
Looking back, maybe I did too good a job. I could have scolded you about your health, told you to watch your diet and exercise a little more. I wonder what would have happened if I’d pointed out how much more of the loveseat you were filling up, or how much more you were having to struggle to haul all your flab around. Maybe it would have kept you from becoming a physical wreck quite so soon; maybe you were already out of control and it would have just made it that much more apparent. We’ll never know, will we?
But I do know what I see in bed with me. A huge, wobbling belly hanging from your torso and spilling into your lap like a giant water balloon. Two bloated, distended legs pushed outward by a protruding fat pad between them. Biceps (if you can call them that) wider than your head, bulging out as your body has struggled to find places to store more fat, leading down to that dimpled elbow roll and an almost equally chubby forearm. And that gorgeous face — always so cute, no matter how many chins you get, how much your cheeks puff out, or how much you give me that indignant, horrified look I see right now.
So no, sweetheart, I’m not helping you up. You should have realized this day was coming a long time ago. But doesn’t it seem like a nice morning for breakfast in bed, anyway? And you must be hungry. Fortunately there’s a dozen eggs, a dozen doughnuts, and a couple pounds of bacon in the kitchen with your name on them.
I’ll have everything ready in a jiffy... no need to get up.
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twenty-thirty-two · 2 years
Text
Dimensional
Steve Rogers x female!reader
Please understand that because I am 18+, I do not want minors on my page or reading my work
I do not consent to my work being reposted on other sites, translated, or copied
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These past few months have been a rollercoaster for Steve. He’s been getting caught up with all the things he’s missed out on. Sure, Tony has made a few quips here and there, but it’s been an adventure. Even when he thinks he’s caught up for the time being, he learns about something new and it drags him into this rabbit hole of knowledge.
One of Steve’s favorite memories is when you took him to Build-A-Bear Workshop. He felt odd at first, seeing how many little kids were in the store, but when you pointed out the teenagers and few adults there, it eased him. It was an adorable sight, seeing Steve pick out his bear, overwhelmed and over delighted with the plethora of options. You honestly thought he was going to pick out the Captain America suit for the bear but he opted for a little sweater and pants for the bear.
The woman at the stuffing station even had him do all the steps before he put the heart in the bear. It was cute seeing a grown man spin in a circle while making a wish as he was holding a small red heart. Steve was adamant about getting the full experience, so he “washed” his bear before he clothed it. You loved seeing Steve get caught up in all of the fun, you almost felt a bit sad when you went to go pay for the things.
Since then, you’ve been wanting to help him continue his journey through the modern world and today, you figured just the thing: taking him to the movies. But what Steve didn’t know was that it was a showing of a movie that’s been out for a couple of weeks, only this time, it was in 3D.
“Doll, you know we had theaters back then right?” He gave you a toothy grin when you pulled up to the movie theater.
You playfully roll your eyes, “Stevie, I know that! But tonight’s movie is a bit different.”
Said toothy grin began to slowly disappear as the super soldier started trying to figure out what you meant. You got out of your car and waited for him with your hand extended out. He takes it and interlocks his fingers and has his thumb caressing your hand.
As you enter the theater, there’s a long line, thankfully you bought the tickets through the app so you didn’t have to wait. You pull up the tickets on your phone, dropping Steve’s hand, once you get them you look up and see that your boyfriend has already gotten in line.
“Steve,” You say with a laugh, he turns around and cocks his head
“C’mere, I have the tickets.” You show him your phone and he gets out of the line.
“You can do that?” Oh this man, this old, old man you think to yourself.
“Mhm, now come on, we need snacks and still need to see the previews!” You say, once again extending your hand.
Steve takes your hand and you head towards the usher who lets you know where your showing will be played.
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“How much for popcorn?!” You look up, amused at the man’s astonishment.
You pay for the snacks and pull away a still mind-boggled Steve from the counter. As you make your way to your designated theater, you go ahead and grab two pairs of glasses from the stand outside the door.
You turned around and Steve a few feet behind you but you can still hear him going on about how popcorn used to be 10 cents.
You hand him his glasses and he looks at them and then at you.
“What am I supposed to do with these?” He says as he’s eyeing the glasses
“Wear ‘em.” You said as though it was the most obvious thing.
You head to your seats and open the glasses to wear them. You look over and Steve and can practically see the wheels in his head turning.
“So… What do I do with these?” He leans over and whispers
“To see the movie, my love.” You open his pair and hand them to him.
The previews begin and Steve still hadn’t worn the glasses, he was fiddling around with them and it became apparent when he leaned over and whispered,
“I know technically I’m old, but don’t you think that with the serum, my eyesight should be preserved?”
You look over at him and see that he’s squinting at the screen and you have to stifle a laugh.
“Steve! The glasses! You need to wear them for this movie.” Steve gives you a look that says ‘oh right’ and he opens the packaging to take them out.
“Oh damn, it’s like he’s coming right at me!” He lifts his hand as though to touch the running dog on the screen.
“Language, Steven.” You held back a smirk and saw him glaring at you through the corner of your eye
Whenever you looked over at your boyfriend, you swore you could see a glint in his eyes. Every so often, you could see that he would try and touch the three dimensional characters.
“This is amazing!” He whispered to you, you reach over and hold his hand
Unfortunately, Steve became so immersed in the film that when a jump scare occurred, he flinched so hard that some of popcorn went flying. He sheepishly looked at you and you gave him a sympathetic look.
Eventually, the film ended and Steve refused to take the glasses off, and when he saw the box where you could discard the glasses, he wasn’t impressed
“Um no, I’m keeping these. We paid for these.”
“You don’t have to dispose of them, you child. We can keep them, though I don’t see why.”
“So that during movie nights, we can see it in 3D!” He said as a matter-of-factly
“Baby, that’s not-“ You shook your head but Steve was already set on the idea of a 3D movie night.
“Do you think Tony has enough of these glasses for everyone? Or should we bring them a pair.”
Oh god, what did you do? When Tony finds out about Steve’s special request for movie night, he’s going to kill you.
Steve waits ahead for you and throws an arm around your shoulder and the two of you walk back to the car, talking about the movie and without a care in the world.
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ratmonky · 3 years
Text
Curse of Innocence
A gift to my best friend for an eternity, @anti-interesting​
Word Count: 18.2K
Warnings: dub-con, gaslighting, manipulation, dacryphilia, voyeurism, cuckolding, bullying, obsession, alcohol
AO3 Link
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“Ya heard?”
“Heard what?” Geto asked with a sigh, exhaling his smoke along the way and watching Gojo munch on an anpan. That guy was eating too many sweets nowadays, he was going to gain weight.
“Apparently, there’s gonna be someone transferring here next semester.” Gojo took another bite from his snack and chewed slowly, savoring the taste. “Shoko said it’s gonna be a girl.”
“So what?” Geto raised a brow. It would be good for Shoko, there weren’t many girls on the campus, it would definitely mean that they could slip away from doing all the cleaning in the dorms as well.
“I call dibs.” A sinister smile was on his face.
Geto paused for a moment to stare at his friend and snorted. “You’re such a lout.” He pretended to wipe an imaginary tear from his eye. “She’s probably like Shoko, don’t get your hopes up.”
“Nooo, I heard she’s a pipsqueak. Preciously charming and weak, at least according to Nanami who met her when she was visiting.” Gojo’s smile widened, eyes sparkling with dark intent. “Well, it doesn’t matter, since you’re not interested, it means I didn’t even need to call dibs, huh?”
Silence.
It had been a while since the last girl had dropped out. They were already going to become third years soon and it was boring here. Shoko wasn’t dumb enough to fall for their tricks or be a part of them and there weren’t any other girls around.
This new girl could change it. She could be the new entertainment.
“Hey,” Geto started, he was trying really hard to not let his lips curl up into a smile but he was failing. Gojo noticed it, eyes squinting and waiting for what his friend had to say. “Wanna go halfsies instead?”
~~~
The campus looked larger and more elegant than your previous sorcerer academy, you were impressed if not relieved. Although there were too many buildings and it was covered by trees, you hoped you could feel at home once you settled.
“So, what do you think?” Shoko suddenly asked.
You were hurrying after her with your bags and luggage. You nodded and when you realized she couldn’t see you since she was walking ahead, you spoke. “I think here is where I belong! It’s quite large and quiet, I love it!”
“I’m glad you think so, it’s large but it’s easy to get lost so make sure to not wander off alone.” She turned to look at you and flashed a smile. “Let’s move on to the dormitory.”
Finally, you were in front of a huge compound-like traditional house.
“This is the dormitory. Both girls and boys use it. Well, we have separate wards and bathrooms but we all stay in this building, it’s our duty to keep it clean and stock up the necessities with the allowance the academy gives us.”
Your mouth opened in admiration, the place was huge. Bigger than your parents’ house. Double… no triple the size of their house.
Shoko opened the door and invited you in. The entrance was small, you took off your shoes.
“Leave your bags here, I’ll first show you the left-wing of the building.”
Nodding, you followed Shoko towards the common room and the kitchen.
“We all hang out here mostly, the guys usually rent movies on Saturdays so they do movie nights here. The kitchen always needs to be clean. Do not leave any dishes out to do them later, wash them right away or put them in the machine. Then there’s this coffee machine-” Her shoulders slouched and she sighed as she showed you the broken handle by pointing a finger at it. “It’s broken but don’t throw it out. We use the oven mittens to grab the decanter. If you want coffee in the morning, come by at seven sharp because Nanami often gets over himself and drinks the whole thing.”
“It’s fine,” you said, putting a hand on your hip. “I like instant coffee better, it’s more convenient and easier to make when I want more. You don’t need to make extra coffee for me or anything. I even brought some with me.”
Shoko raised her brows and smiled at your feigned solace. It was easy to tell, acting confident when your hands were shaking from trying to keep up the facade. “Make sure to hide your coffee then, we share the place with two greedy guys and another caffeine addict like me. But again, I wouldn’t mind sharing my coffee with you, it’s practically nothing too important so don’t hesitate to take some.”
The two of you continued chatting before finally, Shoko took you towards the library and the study rooms after passing the dining hall.
“We have a bigger library but this is for when we need to study here. The books are all about curses, sorcery, and the history of sorcerers.” Shoko said, leaning against the door frame and watching you admire the books she knew no other library had.
Your eyes landed on a hardcover book and you gasped in excitement. “I can’t believe this! You guys have a copy of Sukuna’s Impact on the Japanese History?”
Shoko smiled smugly, “It’s the original.”
“Ahh, you’re so lucky.” You put the book back and smiled at her. “My previous academies only taught us about clans and curses, this is like on another level for me. I’m so happy I transferred here. It’s nice to finally become a student in one of only two of the best jujutsu schools.”
“You know…” Shoko pointed at the book you put back, “You can take it.”
“Can I?” You beamed, your cheeks flushing.
“Well, it’s here so the students can read it. You can take and read any book you like as long as you’re going to return them.”
You gently pulled the book out from the shelf and held it against your chest with both arms wrapped around it. “I’m gonna read this tonight.”
“Knock yourself up,” she chuckled, the boyish and geeky side of you was already showing through.
While you were lost in your thoughts, planning how you were going to read about that one curse anatomy book you saw after this one, Shoko’s voice filled your ears. “At the end of this hall is the laundry room. There’s an equipment room and a large pantry.” She snapped her fingers as if to remember something, “Ah yes, cleaning supplies are also in the laundry room. Nanami will show you those on Sunday, we all clean the whole building weekly.”
You nodded slowly, processing all this information.
“Now, it’s time I show you to your room…” Shoko walked past you and back to the common room and then to the entrance once again.
Quickly, grabbing your bags, you followed her to the right side of the building. This side was broader. She slid open the door and continued walking in a straight line. “Here’s the boys’ dorm.” Her eyes landed on the stairs leading upstairs. “Ours is upstairs. It’s divided poorly, I know.”
You sighed and she chuckled. Climbing the stairs was hard when you had so many bags with you.
Shoko slid open the door and ignored a couple of doors until she reached the one that had her name on it, “This is my room, yours is next to mine.” She pointed at the door next to hers before fishing out a pair of keys from her pocket. “There you go.”
You took the keys after putting down one of your bags. “Why are there so many?”
“It’s for the entire campus. One for the library, our rooms, the building’s door, and many more that you’ll figure out on Monday.”
“Okay.” You looked around and saw that there was another door at the end of the hall.
“Behind that is the girls’ bathroom. Leave that sliding door open after you’ve taken a shower otherwise it gets really foggy on the other side of the hall.” Shoko put her hand on her hips and rested her weight on one leg. “That’s it. You can get settled now. I’ll call you out for dinner.”
You bowed down slightly, “Thank you for showing me around. I hope we get along well, Ieiri.”
“Ah, you’re being too formal! Please call me Shoko.” Shoko grinned but bowed her head out of habit. “Let’s get along well, (name).”
Smiling, you repeated her name quietly. Perhaps the two of you could be really close friends even though you were going to be here for a year.
“One last thing,” Shoko said, just as you had unlocked the door to your room. “It’s a piece of advice from me.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t let the boys see you as weak. They’ll tease you for it.” She looked serious, her friendly smile and big, wide eyes were gone, replaced by a frown and half-lidded look.
“I can handle a little bit of teasing!” You were grinning, putting on the facade again. “Besides if you don’t get teased for being weak, how will you get determined to improve yourself, haha, right?”
Shoko didn’t answer.
Your smile slowly faded.
“Just… be careful.” She turned around on her heels. “Nanami’s fine, though. At least I think so.”
That was the last thing she said before walking away from you and sliding the door to the hall closed, leaving you confused.
Dumbfounded, you walked inside your own room, hoping that you could get the most out of your senior year here in Tokyo Jujutsu High. Unaware of the things to come.
~~~
As soon as Shoko put a foot down on the main floor, she heard the chatter coming from the common room.
She exited the dormitory and slid the door closed behind her. When she arrived at the common room, she found Geto giving Nanami a pack of cigarettes.
“Yo, Shoko!” Gojo waved at her from the couch he was sitting on. “Did the girl settle in yet? What does she look like? Does she have big boo-”
Geto slammed his fist on top of Gojo’s head. “Ah, Shoko, your brand of cigarettes was sold out, I bought the same brand as mine.” Retrieving his hand from the dumb one’s head, he reached inside the plastic bag and pulled out the pack to hold it towards her.
Shoko’s eyes were on Nanami as she walked closer to Geto and snatched her pack. “Thanks.”
Nanami hid his in the hidden pocket of his school jacket before speaking. “I didn’t know you were here, Ieiri.”
“You started smoking a little too early, Nanami,” Shoko squinted her eyes in irritation. “And you, why are you buying cigarettes for him? Shouldn’t you be an example of a great senior year jujutsu student?” She was pointing at Geto who shrugged his shoulders with a grin.
“What? Are ya gonna rat on us?” Gojo grinned as well and got up from the couch to pat Nanami on the back. “Besides, Nanami’s a responsible adult now, he bought it himself!”
Nanami nodded reluctantly to confirm.
“He turned eighteen barely a week ago.” Shoko rolled her eyes and her eyes landed on Geto holding his pack of cigarettes out to her. She stared at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Here.”
“Why?”
“So you won’t tell anyone.” Geto was smirking. “Also a gift before you leave for your training.”
“That’s a cheap bribe.” Shoko took the pack with an eerie smile.
“She took it anyway,” Nanami scoffed softly.
“They’re scary~” Gojo leaned towards Nanami. “Smokers are easy to bribe with more of those killer sticks.”
“What’s for dinner?” Nanami then asked, ignoring the idiot.
“Since I’m on kitchen duty tonight, I was thinking curry and rice, since it’ll be five of us from now on so we can’t eat takeout all the time.” Shoko put the cigarette packs in her coat pockets and walked towards the kitchen. “It’d be nicer if one of you helped me cook too.”
Both Geto and Gojo put a hand on Nanami’s back to push him forward.
When Shoko glanced over her shoulder, it looked like Nanami was silently following her to the kitchen to help her. “Thanks, Nanami, I appreciate it.”
While the second year was glowering at the other two seniors for sacrificing him, Geto took out another pack of cigarettes he had hidden in his pants’ pocket.
“I’m gonna go out for a smoke,” he said, informing his friend.
Without saying anything, Gojo followed him out. They walked down a path leading to Geto’s secret smoking spot.
“We didn’t get any first years this semester,” Gojo pouted. “I was looking forward to it.”
“You just want them to idolize you,” Geto tore the packaging of the cigarettes open and pulled one out, putting it between his lips.
“I just wanna have younger people cheer for me! I miss being told how great I am!” Gojo pouted, acting cutesy. “Nobody praises me anymore.”
Geto lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply, “We’re not children anymore, that’s why.”
“It motivates me when someone tells me I’m strong~” He leaned his back against a tree and looked at his friend over his sunglasses. “I bet, the new girl will be all over me.”
“Maybe she will,” he answered, exhaling the smoke with a smirk. “Shall we do the friendly and stoic guy gimmick again or try something else?”
“Nuh-uh! Overly friendly classmates! That always works!” Gojo laughed to himself and paused. “I just got shivers thinking about it.” Wrapping his arms around himself, Gojo trembled. “Ahh, I hope she’s the errand girl type.”
“Why?”
“Those are easier to trick.”
Geto hummed before nodding languidly. “You’re right. They are also considerably obedient, they’d do anything to not upset anyone.”
“A people pleaser like that girl who dropped out! They are pretty adorable,” Gojo chuckled. “Ahh, what was her name again?”
Shrugging, Geto took a whiff of his cigarette before giving a blatant reply. “Who knows.”
~~~
When there was a knock on your door, you were already done packing and were reading the book you had borrowed from the library.
Closing the book and putting a small divider on the page you were reading, you walked up to the door.
Although you were expecting Shoko to be on the other side when you opened the door, there was a blonde guy standing in the hall.
“Hii,” you chirped. “I think we met before!” It took you a small pause to remember his name. “Nanamin… right?”
“Nanami,” he corrected, looking anywhere but at your face to avoid making eye contact. “Dinner’s ready.”
“Sorry… Thanks for letting me know.”
As he was getting ready to turn around and leave you walked out of your room, closing the door behind you to tail after him.
Not really the type to enjoy small talk, Nanami felt obliged to say something when the two of you reached the stairs. “It’s curry and rice.”
“Hmm?”
“The food. It’s dinner and rice.”
“Ahh, it had been a while since I last ate curry. Did you cook it?”
“I only helped Ieiri to make rice.”
“That’s still cooking,” you giggled and offered him a pat on the back. “Next time I need someone to cook rice, I know who to call.”
Nanami chuckled at that.
You were also grinning like an idiot, stupidly happy for no reason other than managing to make him chuckle.
Inside the dining hall, Shoko was already seated, Nanami quickly sat on an empty chair.
“Nice dress,” Shoko commented when she saw you bouncing on your heels, unsure of where to sit. Twirling around to show off your dress, you thanked her with a smile. Soon after she pointed at a seat next to hers, “You can sit here.”
“How many are we?” you asked, noticing how there were only two more plates placed down on the table.
Before Shoko could answer, two guys entered the dining hall, laughing merrily.
You turned around and stared at the guy with raven black hair, it was half tied up, his hair was long and silky, dark eyes blinked before they landed on you. His lips curled up to a smile.
The guy beside him was grinning from ear to ear. “You must be the new girl!” Either the guy was a loud fellow or he was very nervous talking to you because his voice got only louder each time he opened his mouth to speak. “Ugh, it’s very nice to meet you, hope we get along well.” He rubbed his neck nervously, “I’m Satoru Gojo!!” His tone changed into something a lot softer and his cheeks flushed pink. It was even more noticeable when he reached in for a handshake.
“Nice to meet you, Gojo,” you replied and took his hand. “I’m (name).”
“You have such a nice name, perfectly fitted for a girl like you,” he smiled. And with that, he blushed even harder.
“Thank you,” you chuckled, your cheeks also blushing a little because of the intensity of his stare.
Gojo then encouraged another man who looked a similar age to you to introduce himself as well but the guy didn’t. He stared at you instead. His dark eyes wandered on your face for a moment too long before he clicked his tongue with a smile. And while you were staring back at him, you noticed something. He was magnetic almost, pulling you towards himself.
He reached in to shake your hand, “Suguru Geto.”
“(n-name).” Sharply gasping, your cheeks flushed and your heart started throbbing hastily in your chest but you tried to look indifferent. “N-nice to meet you two.”
He and the other guy exchanged a knowing look with each other when you stuttered.
~~~
“Argh! I thought we were both going for the friendly and shy guy!” Gojo rubbed his nose bridge while cringing. “You made me look sooo stupid. I told you to stop with the stoic guy thing!”
Geto was indifferent as he flipped a page of his book. “Well, she fell for it anyway.”
“You’re trying to steal her, right?” Gojo started pacing around the room. “I should’ve known! Ahh, you’re so scary, I hate you.”
“That’s not it.” Geto closed his book with a sigh, keeping a finger between the pages to not lose which page he was reading. “She’ll trust me and come to me if things get out of hand instead of going directly to someone else. We have to think ahead or it’ll end up like the others.”
“Still, you could’ve told me something before I embarrassed myself! Nanami and Shoko were holding in their laughs ya know!”
“You always make a fool of yourself so what’s the difference?”
Gojo visibly tensed, Geto had managed to get on his nerves.
“I apologize,” Geto said to avoid conflict. “Since I upset you, I’ll let you take the first step.”
With that his friend pushed his sunglasses up to his hair, smiling foolishly. “That’s very generous of ya.”
Geto realized he may have made a mistake to let Gojo take the lead. His friend enjoyed watching more than being a part of it.
~~~
The next day, your uniform came.
“It’s cute,” Shoko said, looking up from the magazine she was reading.
“Really? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have a gakuen-like uniform. Does it suit me?” You frowned as you struck poses in front of the mirror.
“What’s important is if you can move in it. You’re going to wear that while fighting curses.” She sat up on your bed to get a better look at your uniform.
“You’re right…” You smoothed the fabric of your skirt and decided that it was perfect. “I think I like it.” Turning around to face Shoko, you smiled. “It’s so unfortunate that you’re going away to train as soon as I start though…”
“I’m not exactly the fighter type, I’m trying to become an autopsy technician after I get my degree.” Shoko mirrored your smile. “So you better be careful on your missions or I might be the one to dissect you.”
“I could never look at a dead body yet you’re willing to do that as a job?” You got goosebumps on your skin, “You must be very strong!”
“Mentally? Yes. Physically? Not at all.”
“By the way… why do you wanna become a jujutsu sorcerer?” As simple as the question was, it differed from person to person. Nobody wanted to become a jujutsu sorcerer for the fun of it.
Taken aback, it took her a long moment before she answered. “Money, not being sure what to do with the power to see curses, not having a future as a normal civilian. I don’t know, could be all of them at once.” She noticed your smile widening as if you were fascinated by her choice of path for the future. “What about you?”
Your answer was quick, you said it with your whole chest, eyes twinkling with determination. “To protect people from curses and collect all of Sukuna’s fingers.”
“Woah, talk about being selfless,” Shoko joked but you didn’t laugh. “While I’m away, you should hang out with Nanami and avoid conflict. Heated arguments can make all the hell break lose.”
You nodded in response.
“You don’t like to be seen as selfless, huh?” She didn’t want to leave for the internship tomorrow like this. It was clear you were upset. “Is there a special reason for you to hate it?”
You fidgeted with your fingers, confident and cheerful girl facade wavering yet again. “It makes people think that I’m weak. That I wanna become a sorcerer to feel better about myself when I actually wanna do something good with the power I was gifted.”
Ahh, the type who wanted to leave an impact. Rather, desperate to have some sort of validation.
At that moment, Shoko pitied you. “You care what people think about you, don’t you?”
“I… do.” Shoulders slouched and with those fidgeting fingers, you looked anything but confident.
“What others may think of you doesn’t truly define you. It’s hard to accept but not everyone will like you. It’s impossible to be loved by everyone, so you should worry about getting your degree along with your sorcery license.”
She was trying to encourage you but it felt more like a talk some adult would give to a kid that wouldn’t stop crying.
“Y-yeah, I’ll do that.”
Shoko got up from your bed and ruffled your hair, “You have my number and email address. You can contact me whenever you wanna.”
With the mood lightening, you were able to fix your posture and nod rapidly. “Same goes for you too!”
~~~
Monday started with you and the others seeing Shoko off from the bus station. The four of you took the bus that came after hers.
“This bus goes all the way to the stop by the campus and down to here.” Nanami handed you a card. “Ieiri told me to give this to you. It’s a transportation card. Works with everything.”
You took the card and thanked him as you put it in. “Tokyo is a bigger city than I thought.”
“Let’s see,” Gojo turned around his seat to stare at you and Nanami. He clasped his chin between his thumb and knuckle, thinking carefully. “There were two different curses reported around here. We should split up and meet back up in the dormitory when we’re done.”
“Wait,” you said, chuckling nervously. “We’re gonna deal with curses by ourselves? Without a supervisor?”
Three of them stared at you in the same confusion you were looking at them.
“We learn on the field after the first year,” Geto explained. “Most of the schedule for us is exorcising curses. We don’t have classes on campus nowadays either. Our teacher is abroad.”
“B-but isn’t it dangerous to exorcise curses without a teacher or a professional sorcerer around?”
“Was that how it worked back in your previous schools?” Nanami was trying to be understanding, you clearly weren’t confident in your abilities or needed supervision.
“Y-yeah. I-I mean curses can be really dangerous and we’re still not professionals.”
“You’re overthinking it!” Gojo said, looking at you over his sunglasses. “We can go together, you and me. I’m the strongest so you don’t need to worry about anything.”
Geto sighed, glancing over his shoulder to look at Nanami. “You’re okay with being paired up with me?”
Nanami shrugged.
“Great!” Gojo pressed the stop button attached to the pole. “(name), come on! This is our stop.”
Nanami got up from his seat to let you follow after Gojo towards the bus door.
“It’s only my first day…” You hesitated.
“You’ll do fine,” Geto encouraged, “Satoru will help you out.”
You blushed faintly and bowed your head in acknowledgment as the vehicle rolled to a stop.
“Satoru, don’t force her too much on her first day.” Geto was smirking when the doors opened.
“Sure sure. I won’t.” Gojo waved at him lazily and got off the bus with you. He turned around, stretching his arms over his head before talking. “Do you use cursed tools to exorcise curses?”
“Sometimes-”
Without letting you finish your words, Gojo pulled out a dagger from the inner pocket of his jacket. “You’ll need this then. Curses here in Tokyo are intelligent.”
Grabbing the dagger from him, you nodded sluggishly. “O-okay.”
Once you put the dagger in your utility belt, he draped his arm over your shoulder and started walking, leading you towards an alleyway. “Now, tell me all about yourself! I need to know everything.” He was pressing you to his side, his hand on your shoulder slowly slid down to your waist.
“Um, Gojo… this is a little t-too close,” you mumbled shyly.
Gojo leaned down, his face got awfully close to yours. He managed to bite down the urge to grin. “Sorry, what’s that? I didn’t hear what you said.”
You were completely silent, blushing in embarrassment and looking away. “N-nothing.”
“Hmm.” His fingers pressed on your hip, caressing your skin over the fabric of your skirt softly. “How have you been liking Tokyo and our college so far?” he asked, leading you down another street.
“It’s been barely three days… but I can say that it’s different from where I come from.” That was all you had to say as you tried to not give much thought to his hand on your hip. You dipped your head in a nod when he gestured towards another alleyway.
“You’ll love it here! Shoko said she liked you already and I can tell we’re gonna be really close too!” he laughed, his smile was contagious. You couldn’t help but smile despite being uncomfortable. “Maybe you’ll even befriend Suguru in the future!”
“I-is it hard to befriend him?” Oh, so innocent.
“Definitely,” Gojo let out a dramatic sigh. “He doesn’t trust people that easily but I hope you’ll be able to see him smile one day. It’s a sight ya don’t see often.”
“How could I befriend him?” you politely asked.
“By befriending me!” he replied, his thumb drawing circles over your clothes. “It took me two whole years to gain his respect ya know. I can help speed up the progress by telling ya all about him.”
To move away from his hand without saying anything that might make you seem like such a prude, you pressed yourself flush against his side but it only made everything worse. His hand slid further down your hips, smoothing the fabric of your skirt and-
“Don’t!” you suddenly said, pushing him away from yourself.
Gojo looked dumbfounded and confused as to why you were upset. “What happened?”
“It’s just…” The expression on his face made you feel guilty. He clearly had no ulterior intentions or anything. You were overreacting. You had to be overreacting.
“Ahh.” He softly slapped a hand on his forehead, “Sorry, I must’ve been too friendly. I’m the type to be comfortable around friends pretty easily. Shoko told me to be careful but I clearly failed, so sorry again if I made you uncomfortable,” he said, catching you off guard.
Your heart shattered into a million pieces. Now, you were going to be known as some prude who thought everyone who came close to you was after you.
“N-no, I was the one overreacting. I-it was just too overwhelming for me I guess, I don’t know. Please don’t blame yourself!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gojo said, smiling brokenly. “I’m used to it.”
You had messed up already. It was only your first day but you had already managed to make the cheerful guy somber.
“The curse is in that abandoned building,” he pointed towards a two-floored apartment building, changing the subject. “Let’s exorcise it and return back to the campus.”
It was silent between you up until you arrived at the building and entered it.
“I’ll check upstairs so you should check here.” Gojo’s tone was colder than ice, it lacked the usual chipper you had grown used to in such a short time. “Just call out my name if you need help.”
“Yessir!” you chirped, trying to ease the mood. To add to the goofiness, you saluted but Gojo didn’t do anything more than stare at you blankly. Somehow, it made you feel even worse. Now, you were both embarrassed and guilty.
Quietly, Gojo climbed up the stairs, leaving you alone.
Ugh! This was the worst. What Shoko had said before had scared you and put you on the edge around the guys. You had to be out of your mind to ruin your relationships with your classmates over a possible prank Shoko had pulled on you.
“Help-”
You jolted, listening carefully.
It was quiet again.
Maybe it was your imagination.
“Help!”
This time it was loud and clear, you walked further inside the building and listened again. “Hello?”
“Over here.”
The voice was coming from upstairs.
“Gojo! Are you hearing this?!”
No response.
A sudden rush of panic took over your senses.
Was Gojo hurt?
Unconscious?
Was he ignoring you?
Was it all of the above?
Without any hesitation, you climbed up the stairs and walked along the long hallway until you reached a dead end.
A low growl filled your ears and cold shivers went down your spine. You could feel the presence of something evil behind you, something with a ton of cursed energy. Definitely not a low-grade curse, maybe a grade one but nothing lower than that.
Turning around was a simple task, you could have done it solely by thinking about doing it but your legs wouldn’t budge. Your hand that was clutching on your belt to pull out the cursed tool Gojo had given you was shaking violently, nevertheless how you had exorcised some other curses in the past, this was the first time you were facing one alone, without anyone watching over you.
The cursed energy coming from the creature filled all of your senses and wrecked your nerves. It was as if you were drowning after being stung by a jellyfish, the shock was making you unable to move and although you were about to die, you couldn’t do anything about it.
What a way to go!
Dying on your first day on the field after embarrassing yourself in front of a classmate who clearly was defeated by this curse, otherwise, where could he be?
A sharp breath left your lips when the curse abruptly pulled you into its skin, absorbing you into its flesh and many hands it had started groping you.
The hands were going under your skirt, caressing your inner thighs, fondling your tits as you sank deeper into its flesh without fighting back. Then there was the wetness, warm, slick muscle wrapped around your throat before moving up towards your face. It was a tongue you realized. The wet muscle forced itself between your lips and pried your jaw open to snake itself down your throat.
Tears started streaming down your face right away. Multiple hands kneaded the soft flesh of your thighs and tits roughly as the tongue started swirling around in your mouth. Foreign feelings of all of the hands and a wet muscle grazing the back of your throat were too overwhelming, your head got lightweight, eyes rolling up. You were about to lose consciousness, it had to be the curse’s doing.
“Ah, you’ve found the curse.” Gojo’s voice was the last thing you heard before your vision went dark.
Gojo on the other hand was smirking, secretly glad that you weren’t able to see his cock swelling up under his pants as he was watching you get violated by the curse. Your body was still reacting to its tongue moving inside your mouth, eyelashes fluttering, and legs desperately trying to press together from involuntary pleasure.
It was quite a sight to see. Having your legs spread open by many hands of the curse that was ignoring him wasn’t something he had been exactly planning to see today but he was grateful nonetheless.
The hands that were spreading your legs moved further up towards your inner thighs, hiking your skirt up completely before another hand helplessly tried to tore your panties off of you.
Now, it was going a little too far.
“Over the clothes is fine but trying to touch her bare skin… you’re getting ahead of yourself, you shrimp.” Gojo rolled his eyes, curses could be excessively selfish, thinking that they own everything.
With a flick of his finger, he exorcised the curse in an instant. Its body exploded into a million different pieces and your body, released from its groping hands fell on the ground in a silent thud.
The next thing that echoed in the empty building was the sound of a belt unbuckling and a zipper being undone.
~~~
You jolted awake, eyes wet with tears and body trembling.  
“Hey,” Gojo’s voice above you was worried yet calming. “It’s just a nightmare, I’m here. You’re safe.”
You were being torn apart, emotions a wreck that couldn’t be fixed. Memories of what had happened washed over you frantically, leaving you breathless. Your arms quickly reached for the only person in front of you, begging for his closeness to feel comfort.
Gojo’s reaction was a bit delayed, but he carefully wrapped his arms around you and almost immediately you started sobbing pathetically.
The curse was gone, you couldn’t feel its presence. He must have exorcised it to save you. All you ever did today was to cause trouble for him.
“Sorry,” you said quietly, in between sobs.
“Hey, there’s nothing for you to apologize for,” Gojo’s voice was soft like honey, his sunglasses were pushed up to his hair and he was holding you in his lap. “Are you alright? Have you calmed down a bit?”
You frowned, tears gushing out from your eyes again. “I-I was so scared.”
“Anyone would be.” With your head pressed on his chest, you could hear his chest rumbling as he spoke. “You’re safe now.”
You sobbed as you remembered what had happened once again.
“What happened?” he asked, lulling you into a false sense of comfort, pulling you closer towards the trap.
You told him your story, slowly, a little at a time with small breaks of you crying.
You were raised in the hopes of becoming the head of your clan, forced to act tough, and were taught to be caring and loving yet you had never received any real love or care from anyone. You were in no way treated fairly by anyone.
So you had assumed the role of the caretaker of others with a facade of a motherly figure. You helped others and hoped to get happiness in return but in no way it was as easy as you had hoped. People were only loving to you when you were doing something for them in return and that was how you noticed you could be loved. By being useful to others. And eventually the habit of taking care of others to feel validated developed inside you. However that also became a problem, you were now being seen as weak, someone who could never lead others. Then you were sent to many different jujutsu colleges in the hopes that you could become somewhat more courageous and leader-like.
But that never happened, you couldn’t change what you were or what others would think of you no matter what. You felt lost for many years.
Later after being told that the Tokyo Jujutsu High could be the one to fix you, you had transferred here overnight.
You had thought moving to Tokyo was going to be like any other place but as soon as you arrived at the campus and met the others, you felt the warm feeling of a home. You realized you belonged here.
People here treated you like a person. Like you were a part of whatever they had going on here without judging you for being weak like any other people you had met so far would.
For a while, he was oddly quiet. He listened to your sobbing and sharp inhales until they calmed down.
“Well,” Gojo pressed his cheek on top of your head, arms tightening around you and legs moving to bring you closer on his lap.  “What can I do to ease your pain?”
You pressed a hand on your cheek to wipe your tears to save yourself from the stickiness but most of it was dried snot, or at least that was what you thought it was. “Right now, I just wanna go home. I feel so dirty…”
“Yeah,” he spoke into your hair, taking a long whiff. “Smells like you need a shower.”
The reason why you were crying past forgotten, a laugh escaped you and you smacked your hand on his chest playfully. “Hey!”
“Whaaaat? You stink!” Gojo used his thumb and forefinger to press his nostrils together as he grimaced.
Pausing, you looked up to him through your lashes, suddenly self-conscious. “D-do I?”
Gojo’s arms around you were kind of pressing you down onto his crotch and his flip phone was poking your ass but you tried to ignore it, you didn’t want to cause another misunderstanding as he leaned forward towards you. “Let me check again.”
He pressed his nose into your hair but you didn’t hear him inhaling. When you turned to look at him, he buried his face into the crook of your neck. Face completely blushed, your eyes widened and your heart skipped a beat.
After a long sniff, his hand on your back reached further around to wrap tighter around your shoulders to press you flush against his body. “I take it back, ya smell nice.” He spoke into your skin, lips brushing against your neck and the hot breath of his mouth making goosebumps prickle your skin.
You let out a breathy laugh to cover your nervousness. “T-thanks!”
He smiled against your skin before pulling himself back. “But I’d say ya still need a shower. You smell exactly like a booger.”
“You! You were just-!” You pushed him away as you blushed furiously, flustered by all of his teasings. “You’re soo mean!”
“Hehe, I’m mean? I saved your life, ya know!”
That was true. The unpleasant memories flashed in front of your eyes once again but this time, Gojo was ready to help you get up to your feet and exit the building to go back home while holding his hand.
“There’s this ramen place down this street, let’s eat lunch before we return, whaddya say?” His glee had returned, his smile was more gorgeous than you had realized.
“O-okay!” You let him intertwine your fingers together but blushed harder as a result.
~~~
“Ah, the others are still out…” you said as soon as you stepped inside the dormitory. Their shoes weren’t by the entrance.
“We have the whole place to ourselves, isn’t it great?” Gojo kicked off his shoes to walk further inside. “We can watch this one movie I rented out last week… ah... I forgot to return it… Anyway! We can still watch it! The movie’s about-”
“I think I’m gonna take a shower first,” you shyly interrupted. “But we can still watch it after I’m done!”
He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “I see, you should be quick then. Once Suguru and Nanami come back, we won’t be able to do anything.”
You nodded, hurrying up to the girls’ dorm, grabbing clothes and your towel to head towards the showers but then you saw the large sign with big red letters just as you were about to enter.
Although you were already bummed out about not finding your body towel and only had your hair towel with you, the sign made your day worse.
Walking downstairs, you found the person you were looking for in the kitchen.
“Um, Gojo?”
The guy mentioned closed the cabinet he was checking and his lips curled up into a smile but it disappeared as soon as he turned to face you. “Yeah?”
“It says that the water pipes are damaged upstairs…” Hugging your clothes and towel tighter on your chest, you raised your eyebrows to ask him something he had planned for you to ask. “Where am I supposed to shower?”
Gojo hummed in thought. “Well, you can use our bathroom. I can stay on the lookout for you so Suguru or Nanami won’t walk in on you.”
You looked hesitant but you had learned to trust Gojo. He had made sure of that.
“O-okay.”
“Leave your dirty clothes in the basket by the door, I'll wash them for you.” He walked around the counter to put an arm around you, walking you towards the boys’ bathroom.
“I can do it,” you said softly.
“I’m gonna wash my stuff anyway so I can do it for ya!” he insisted, easily having had figured out that you couldn’t say no to people.
Nodding reluctantly, you spoke after clearing your throat. “Can you please make sure nobody comes in? I-I would feel safe if I knew you told them to not come in.”
“Of course!! I’ll call Suguru right away!” Gojo offered you a polite smile. You stood in front of the bathroom door, he pushed you inside. “So it’s the exact same as the upstairs but the only difference is that you should wear one of those slippers while showering.” He grabbed a large pair of slippers for you, putting them in front of you as you were taking your socks off. “Do not, and I mean this, do not walk barefoot here. We don’t clean the floors, we should but we won’t.”
“That’s kinda icky…”
“You can clean it if you wanna but we won’t.”
“It should be your job to clean your own dorm.” You put on the slippers with a sigh.
“Take your clothes off and take your shower before they return or I’ll bring them in here.”
“What!?”
“You heard me.”
Of course, you heard him. You were blushing furiously.
Gojo giggled and walked over to you. “You can’t bathe in your clothes, can you?” He pulled you out of the shower area. “Come on!”
“I-I will! You have to get out first!”
He stared at you with deadpan eyes, almost in disbelief. “I thought you wanted me in here so nobody would come in?”
When you blushed harder, his facade fell and he snorted before long he was laughing merrily.
“You’re so easy to tease!”
Covering your face in embarrassment, you told him to leave politely.
“I will I will!” He ruffled your hair, leaning down to whisper in your ear. “I’ll be back to collect your laundry so don’t freak out about that, right?”
“R-right.”
“So adorable…” He patted on your head one last time before leaving.
As soon as he left, you took your uniform off, folding them neatly to put them in the small laundry basket. Since after this separation you only needed your towel, you left your clean clothes next to the basket, folding them as well.
Sluggishly, you unhooked your bra and slipped out of your panties, placing them in between your clean clothes. There was no way you were going to let Gojo wash your underwear, that was too… too-
You were blushing and had to internally shake your head to clear your thoughts. Once naked, you wrapped your hair towel around your body, it was a lot shorter than you thought, not the actual towel you planned on using to cover your body. Ugh, whatever. You were going to get out of the showers and put on your clothes anyway. It didn’t matter what length of towel you had.
After taking a deep breath you walked into the bath area to take a shower.
~~~
Gojo had all of your clothes in the laundry basket and was walking towards the laundry room when Geto entered the dormitory with Nanami.
“Yo Suguru!” he chirped, “Don’t enter the bath, she’s in there taking a shower.”
Geto snorted, covering his mouth with a hand, “It really worked huh?”
They were all standing in the common room as Gojo nodded rapidly. “It’s all thanks to Nanami, his handwriting is soooo professional. I bet she thought it was from some janitor or something. She didn’t even question how Shoko was able to shower just this morning.”
While Geto and Gojo were snickering, Nanami was staring down at his feet. “Can you keep me out of this one?”
“Eh?” Gojo deadpanned. “Getting cold feet already? You promised you’d join in?! This is a once in a lifetime chance, Nanami~”
“Don’t force him,” Geto said, still a smile plastered on his face. “I think he’ll get around anyway.”
Gojo’s grin returned on his face, “True true! She’s sooo adorable and easy to handle. It’s like she was made for us.”
Nanami shook his head, trying to look serious but failing miserably.
“It’s no worries, Nanami,” Geto informed, placing an ensuring hand on his shoulder. “You’ll always have an open place.”
“Yeah, women have three holes ya kn-OW!” Gojo’s words were cut short by Geto flicking a finger on his nose.
“What do you have there?” Changing the subject way too quickly, Geto pointed at the laundry basket.
Gojo rubbed the tip of his nose and pouted. “Her clothes.”
“All of them?”
“Ya.”
“Did you use six eyes to spy on her?”
“Nooo~” Gojo tried to hide his smile and lie but failed to keep his face neutral.
“Bastard.” Clicking his tongue, Geto rolled his eyes. “How did the exorcism go?”
“Well, it went well,” Gojo sighed.
“You said well twice,” Geto pointed out, “Tell me what happened.”
“It was nice,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t know what else to say.” He tried to avoid Geto’s gaze on him. “Got to see her getting ravished by some curse and all…”
Geto grimaced and went quiet. The sound of the show playing on the television in the common room wasn’t loud enough to fill the silence that Gojo had created.
Nanami was blushing but he couldn’t leave as Geto still had his hand on his shoulder, keeping him there.
“I shouldn’t have let you take the lead, you always go overboard on the first day.” Geto was angry at himself.
“Take this as a token of my condolences.” Gojo held your bra up towards his friend.
“He wants the panties for himself.” Geto leaned towards Nanami to complain, “He thinks he’s so smart but I want the panties.”
Gojo shook his head dramatically, “It’s for Nanami. He should take the panties since we made him go through all that trouble. It’s also like an honor to receive the panties, right?”
Nanami refused to look them in the eye.
“He’s acting like the good guy now,” Geto snickered. “We’re not doing anything wrong, Nanami. (name) is in good hands, we wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.” At least physically.
Geto’s voice was calming and soft like cotton, giving the second year a sense of comfort.
“Yeah man, trust your upperclassmen a little!” Gojo laughed merrily, holding out the pink panties towards Nanami. “We’re only trying to teach you!”
Taking the panties from his grasp with shaky hands, Nanami nodded. “Yeah…”
Geto patted him on the back, “Now, where exactly are her weak points?”
Nanami jolted, blushed faintly because of how he has used his ability before. He opened his mouth to say it.
The other two listened attentively.
~~~
Don’t freak out.
Don’t freak out.
With a hair towel barely covering your modesty and on the verge of tears, you were trying to talk yourself into running out of the bath and upstairs. If you run, nobody would see you.
Why had Gojo taken all of your clothes?
Ugh! You shouldn’t have put them there, he probably took them thinking that they were also dirty but deep down you knew you were clumsy enough to end up in this situation anyway.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
You could run.
Just run upstairs.
Yeah, that was all you needed to do.
You stepped out of the bathroom and instantly heard footsteps. Like an idiot, instead of going back inside the showers, you lurched forward, trying the first door you stumbled upon and successfully opening it to enter the room to hide.
Pressing your ear to the door, you listened to the footsteps, they didn’t come close to this room but you heard a door being opened and closed shut.
Letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, you pressed your forehead on the door. You were going to wait a little more before bolting out of this room to run upstairs.
“Can I help you?”
You jerked so suddenly that you managed to hit your head on the door. When you turned around, you found Geto watching you intently from his bed.
Your cheeks flushed, unable to say anything other than gibberish you started stuttering.
He got up from his bed, putting the book he was reading aside and heading straight towards his wardrobe.
“I’m sorry it’s Gojo, he took all of my clothes and-”
“Here.” Geto held out a shirt and sweatpants towards you, cutting your sentence short. “You can wear these and leave.”
You stared at the clothes he was holding out to you, eyes wide and cheeks burning up. Pressing the towel harder on your body, you tried covering yourself as much as you could.
Meekly taking the clothes from him, you bowed your head to show appreciation. There was a moment of silence between the two of you before he walked away and turned around to give you privacy.
You stood still, indecisive, before finally dropping the towel on the floor to put on the clothes he gave you.
Although they were quite large on you, in the end, you weren’t naked anymore.
“T-thank you.” Your voice was soft and full of admiration as you picked your towel up from the floor. He was so kind and respectful.
He waved a hand in lieu of speaking, telling you goodbye.
Not needing to be told twice, you left his room. Geto hoped that you hadn’t noticed him snapping a picture of you with his slide phone but even if you did, he knew you wouldn’t be able to say anything against it.
~~~
Later that day, Gojo apologized to you multiple times, telling you how he was so lost in his thoughts and took all of your clothes with him.
“Here they are though! Washed and dried!” He held the small laundry basket to you. Your clothes were indeed clean but they were… messy. They hadn’t been folded neatly so you had to iron them later. Despite that you thanked him.
Back in your room, you noticed that your underwear was missing from the pile of clothes in the laundry basket. All of them. Your clean and dirty ones.
Quickly, you walked downstairs, past the common room where all the guys were watching television, and into the laundry room. Perhaps Gojo hadn’t washed them out of embarrassment. If it was you, you wouldn’t! At least if it was his underwear you were going to wash.
Checking the large basket and the washing machine multiple times, you couldn’t find them. When you opened the tumble dryer, they weren’t in it either.
You walked back to the common room, feet dragging and meek. Standing beside the large couch, you pretended to be checking the movie they were watching but actually, you were trying to muster up the courage to ask Gojo if he had seen your underwear.
Nanami glanced in your direction through his long fringe, although his cheeks were flushed pink, you couldn’t see it in the dim light. “Gojo,” he said, alerting the white-haired guy of your presence.
You wondered if it was obvious it was him that you wanted to talk to.
Gojo stared at Nanami and when the blonde pointed in your direction with a nod, he whipped his head around to meet your gaze.
“(name)!” he chirped, patting on the empty spot on the couch between him and Geto. “The movie has just started, come join us!”
With everyone looking at you now, you felt obliged to sit down.
Once you were seated, Gojo narrowed his eyes at Geto and put his arm around you. You flinched but didn’t have the courage to push him away, you ended up unwillingly accepting his warmth.
To Geto, what he did was an insult. It felt like it.
If he didn’t hurry and caught up with him, Gojo would have the upper hand.
“Are you okay?” Geto asked, scooted closer to you on the couch, using the question as an excuse to close the distance between the two of you. “I heard what happened, it must've been scary.”
You offered him a kind smile. “It was a terrifying experience but I’m fine… thanks to Gojo.”
Geto tried hard not to let his lips curl down to a frown but with the way Gojo was smirking at him to taunt him, it was difficult. “Yeah but don’t trust him too much,” he said, glowering at Gojo. “He can be such an airhead at times. He took all of your clothes today, didn’t he?”
That made you shift on your seat uncomfortably. You also remembered the reason why you had come here but you didn’t want to be accusatory about it. In simple words, you were just too scared to confront him. “He already apologized.”
Gojo’s face contorted into something vile as Geto feigned worry.
“You shouldn’t let him go off that easily. He will never learn from his mistakes if his actions don’t have consequences.”
“It was a small mistake, I’m not mad or anything…” Subconsciously you were leaning away from Gojo.
“Whatever you say,” Geto snickered.
Nanami sank deeper into the cushions of the couch in discomfort while you were completely unaware of the tension between the two guys.
~~~
“What are you trying to do?” Gojo groaned in anger. “We’re all in this together so what’s with trying to make me look bad? I told you that overly friendly guy thing would be the best choice, you can’t blame me for-”
“I wanted to see your reaction,” Geto replied, interrupting him. “It was a joke.”
“It wasn’t funny.” Gojo glared at him over his sunglasses. “I’m going to win her over, is that why you’re acting so childish about it?”
“You’re the one who’s childish,” Geto snapped, sitting up on his bed. “You’re trying to turn this into a competition. Again .”
“It’s more fun that way.”
Silence.
It was a long moment after Geto spoke. “If we’re going to turn this into a competition, then it should be fair to all of us.”
Finally calmed down, Gojo hummed in agreement. “How though?”
A smile spread across Geto’s face before he gave his friend a response.
~~~
“Rock paper scissors!”
Nanami won by picking paper. The other two groaned and complained as they were all walking back to the common room to meet up with you. The game was played in secret.
“Today, you’ll work with Nanami, he’s a pro at using cursed tools.” It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t anything they had planned either.
Your day with the blonde went uneventful, you actually managed to learn some tricks about cursed tools.
~~~
You returned Geto his clothes.
The neatly folded clothes on top of his bed were inviting.
He reached for them. The clothes hadn’t been washed but it was as he wanted. He had assured you he would wash them himself.
Turning the sweatpants inside out, he brought the crotch area up to his face and inhaled deeply. His eyelashes fluttered at the pleasant smell that filled his lungs. So this was how you smelled. Your scent was faint but since you had worn it without any underwear, it had managed to stick onto the fabric, much to Geto’s joy.  
He couldn’t help but take another whiff as he pulled his pants down.
~~~
“Rock paper scissors!”
Geto won.
“Like this?” you asked worriedly, holding your arm out in an exorcism position. The flyhead in front of you was in a small cage, helpless and ready for you to exorcise it.
“No, you have to angle your hips right.” Geto placed his hands on your waist, getting awfully close and invading your space. “You have to keep your eyes on the curse at all times, no matter how much it might spur it on, you can wear sunglasses so it won’t notice your stare but not losing the sight of the enemy is important.” He pressed himself against you but you were listening to his soft voice, explaining how you could get better at this. “Try it.”
You nodded, aiming your cursed energy towards the flyhead.
The creature squealed and exploded into nothing.
Thrilled by your success, you turned your head around with an excited smile plastered on your face. “Did you see that?”
Geto offered you a kind smile, enough to reassure you that you did more than well. “You’re a natural.” He gave you a pat on the head, “Good job.” He then used his fingers to endearingly comb through your hair.
You leaned into his touch, ignoring how close he had gotten.
That made him smile, it wouldn’t be long until you were ready.
~~~
“Rock paper scissors!”
Geto won again, then Gojo, then Nanami, then Gojo again and it went on.
Easy get corrupted but still able to be as meekly cheerful as the first day, you were enough to charm all of them.
One of them a little more than the other two. Enough to make him care about you.
“I’m out.”
Both Gojo and Geto stared at Nanami with wide eyes.
“This eaaarly?” The white-haired one whined, stretching the word out. He was buzzed out of his mind. Cheap beer like this hit him faster than the better quality ones.
“You sure?” This time Geto wasn’t going to say anything to convince him not to drop out of the competition. Nanami leaving meant there would be a higher chance for him to corrupt you for the day.
The blonde in question nodded.
“You’re gonna miss ooooout her cuuutee fidgeting when you touch her waist!” Gojo was giggling, remembering how sensitive you were.
Geto chuckled, a smile appearing on his face. “The way she gets teary when you push her a little too much is the cutest.”
“Nooo, the way she starts stuttering when you act friendly is cute, her face as if she’s ready to cry is sexy. Her brows furrow and she looks at you like she’s begging for you to stop but-”
“She’s too pathetic to speak up!” The duo said it in unison and started laughing while high-fiving each other for their similar thinking.
Nanami took a sip from his beer and ignored them. This was for the best. He was going to continue ignoring it.
Ignorance was bliss.
~~~
“We’re out of necessities,” Nanami informed everyone in the common room.
Gojo tore his eyes away from the television and hung off the back of the coach to look at Nanami. “Already?”
“I can go and buy them if you gave me a list?” You were quick to pipe up.
Geto put his hand on top of your head and ruffled your hair, “You can’t carry all that, we’ll do it.”
“Well, why don’t I go with one of you?” There it was, the meek tone. Something was going on.
“Why? Do you need something specific?” Gojo sat back on the couch, returning his attention to the Saturday morning comedy sketches.
“Y-yeah.” Fidgeting with your fingers you looked down at your lap.
“You can put whatever you need into the list and we’ll buy it,” Geto answered but his true intention was to see how flustered you could get over a simple task being done for you. He could or rather anyone could easily guess what this was all about. They had been living with Shoko for over three years now, who unlike you wasn’t shy about anything.
Nanami who had been pouring out coffee for himself noticed how your shoulders slackened in defeat. Although he had promised to stay out of their game, he spoke without thinking. “We can go together.”
As soon as he said that both Gojo and Geto glowered at him from the corner of their eyes.
You whipped your head around with an innocent smile, “That’s so kind of you! Thank you, Nanami!”
“We can all go,” Geto replied.
“It’d be too crowded.” You got up from the couch to walk over where Nanami was standing to talk about if you should get ready now or later.
An imaginary lightbulb lit up over Gojo’s head. “Let’s decide who’s gonna go by rock paper scissors.”
“Nanami just said he’d go with me-”
“He wants to avoid his cleaning duty. We’re supposed to do the cleaning today since Shoko is coming back tomorrow.” Geto backed Gojo up instantaneously. So sly.
Three of them held their fists up from where they were and almost as if they’d done it a million times, they chose their gesture without even saying anything.
You looked at each gesture and your eyes landed on the winner.
“Write what you two personally need on a list, I’ll go grab my wallet.” Geto got up from the couch and beckoned you to follow him.
The two of you took the bus to the store and split up with separate baskets to do the shopping. You finished quick, put enough sanitary pads that would last you until the next month into the basket, and hid them under a bunch of other things so Geto wouldn’t see it.
You found Geto by the cleaning aisle.
“Done?” he asked, noticing your full basket.
“Yeah.”
“That was quick.” Geto grinned, “I have a couple of things left, after that, I’m done as well.”
“Can we go to the new cafe that opened down the street?” you asked cutely as you followed him to the next aisle in the grocery store.
He nodded in response without looking at you.
As he turned into the next aisle, which happened to be where the hygiene products were, you continued following him. He walked past the toothbrushes, shampoos, and colognes.
You proceeded to follow him until he abruptly stopped.
He put his basket down and inspected the products on the shelves.
Blood rushed to your cheeks when you saw what he was planning to buy. “Ah.” It was a noise you made out of surprise, nothing more. You were completely flushed, dizzy from embarrassment as Geto stared down at you with a packet in his hand.
Extra thin for ultra pleasure.
XL.
Prelubed.
“You okay?” he asked, dropping the packet into his basket.
He was a guy, yeah, he was a man. This was normal. Yeah, he had a-
Your brain wasn’t working.
You shook your head without meaning to. “I-I forgot to buy something.” Not letting him say anything else, you rushed out of the aisle, omitting the way he was grinning.
After the two of you paid for the stuff, you started walking to the cafe together. You were lucky to have Geto by your side since he carried more bags than you ever could. He wouldn’t let you carry anything either so you ended up carrying the toilet papers.
Holding the door open for him, you walked inside the cafe. The employees behind the counter greeted you, smiling brightly.
“I’ll take normal coffee, black, no sugar or milk.” With that, he quietly walked to the furthest end of the shop by the large windows. Apparently, you were the one who was going to order.
You walked up to the employee who was waiting for you to order, you decided to try out their signature drink and ordered filter coffee for Geto. After getting your drinks on a tray, you made your way down to the table he sat, placing the tray carefully down.
Plopping down on the chair, you let out an exaggerated sigh, “I’m exhausted.”
“You didn’t do any of the heavy lifting, so you don’t get to complain,” he replied, taking his coffee from the tray.
You pouted your lips as you reached for your own drink. It got quiet as he looked out of the window, taking small sips of his coffee and enjoying the view. You on the other hand were fidgety. Mind still going back to recall what he had bought.
Well, he was handsome and charming. Geto clearly had a girlfriend. But… you hadn’t seen him with any other girl. What if it was Shoko?
Then it hit you. Shoko’s words she told you when you first arrived at the campus. It all started to make sense, she was trying to scare you so you wouldn’t make a move on his boyfriend.
You were curious.
Curiosity killed the cat.
“I-I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” you said, trying to hide your blushing cheeks behind the straw of your drink.
“What?” he chuckled and put his drink back on the tray.
Dumbfounded by his response you stuttered. “Your g-girlfriend.”
“My what?” He had heard you right but he needed to see you get flustered but when you stayed quiet he continued. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“I-I’m only asking because you bought-” your voice became faint, “ -that… ”
“The condoms?” This time he leaned forward on the table, raising a brow at you. “Do I need to have a girlfriend to buy condoms?”
“Keep your voice down,” you hushed him, your brain was turning into mush from shame and embarrassment, you couldn’t even think straight. “Please.”
“Huh? Why? We’re the only ones here.” He tilted his head to try meeting your eyes but you wouldn’t look at him. “Besides, why are you so why about this? Didn’t you and your boyfriend go out to buy one of these at some point?”
A silent thud made you look down at the table. There it was, in broad daylight, anyone could see it.
You were going to faint.
“Hmm?” Geto was waiting for an answer.
“No,” you said, head spinning from embarrassment, you had never felt like this before. You needed to go home. It was too overwhelming. There was this other thing bubbling in your stomach, your face was getting heated and your nails were digging into your palms.
That was anger. Rage.
“I don’t believe you. Haven’t your boyfriends ever-”
“I never had one.” For the first time in your whole life, you raised your voice.  
“Never?” Geto was more shocked at the revelation, not too surprised at your change of demeanor.  “That’s a shame.” Awe tingled in his soft voice.
You didn’t say anything.
Geto sighed, relenting quietly but his grin didn’t falter. “Okay,” he said, taking the condom packet from the table and putting it back in his pocket. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t sound genuine,” you spoke firmly. "Besides, you were the one to tell me not to forgive tactlessness. Isn’t it ironic?” Your tone had changed, you were speaking through your teeth, anger had taken over you.
Oh, this feisty side of you… he wanted to see how it would break.
“You think so?” A thoughtful yet mocking humming noise left him. “Aren’t you the one overreacting? All I did was to show you something I bought. You were the one asking about it. Shouldn’t it be me who should be upset with you?”
Silence.
“If you want to believe it’s my fault, I’ll let you think that way but don’t go blaming others for corrupting your virtue like a prude. It’s annoying and harmful. If you said those words to Satoru, he’d be devastated. So, be a good girl and grow up.”
Your chest tightened, no matter how much you inhaled no air was reaching your lungs. The panic had started settling in but it was all internal. You had put the facade back on, desperately trying to hold back your tears.
What he said was true. That was why it hurt so much.
“Ah, let’s head back,” he said, getting up from his seat. “It’s getting late.”
You nodded languidly, leaving your still full drink on the tray and shuffling after Geto with glossy eyes.
The guilt you felt was sublime, no words would be enough to describe it.
~~~
“She’s never had a boyfriend?” Gojo was baffled by the fact. “Does that-”
“Most likely,” Geto answered without needing to hear his question.
The two of them exchanged a competitive look with each other before they balled their good hands in fists.
“Rock paper scissors!”
~~~
There was a knock on your door. You pulled the sheets over your head instead of answering it. You hadn’t joined the boys for dinner, there was no way you could look them in the eye after what had happened today.
“We’re going to have drinks in Nanami’s room.” It was Geto. “I want you to join us.”
You pressed your face harder on the pillow.
“(name)?”
Maybe it was better if you answered the door before he burst into your room, which was unlikely since it was Geto. Gojo would have but Geto… no.
You walked to the door and falteringly opened it.
On the other side, Geto had a hand on your door frame, leaning forward.
Your eyes met but you immediately averted your gaze in shame. An apology was the first thing you needed to do. “I’m sorry.”
He scoffed, “Why are you apologizing?”
“For saying all those mean things.”
Geto leaned further down and used his free hand to pat on your head, ruffling your hair. “Don’t overthink it. I shouldn’t have teased you that much.”
The feeling of his warm, calloused hand on your head was reassuring, it made you regret saying those words to him even more. He had been nothing but kind to you.
“I’m so sorry, I must be so annoying and weak.” You lifted your head to look at him, eyes glossy and cheeks tinted. Your lower lip was trembling as your eyes were acutely watching him, waiting for a response.
Unable to resist your face in despair, Geto smiled. His hand cupped your cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb. “Don’t apologize. You’re a girl who’s desperately working hard to improve herself. There’s no way I could ever dislike you.”
“You’re not upset?”
“Why would I be?” His hand slid down along your jaw stopping when his thumb was hovering over the corner of your lip. He ran his thumb on your lip. “You’re such a sweet girl, it’s impossible staying mad at you. You’re adorable.”
Petrified, you stared into his eyes. The half-lidded eyes were hazy with an emotion you had never seen on anyone before. He was leaning closer towards your face all the while your heart was hammering inside your ribcage.
He was going to kiss you.
Instinctively, you closed your eyes, puckering your lips.
Geto watched your eyelashes flutter and cheeks flush with dark amusement before retrieving his hand from your face.
“Shall we go?”
His question made you open your eyes and instantly your cheeks flushed harder. Ahh, how embarrassing! You really thought he was going to kiss you.
You walked out of your room and closed the door to follow Geto downstairs to Nanami’s room.
Gojo’s chipper voice filled the empty hallway before you arrived in front of the room. Geto opened the door for you, gesturing you to walk inside first.
Nanami’s room was cleaner than yours, it was neatly organized and decorated but it reeked of cigarette smoke.
“Ahh, (name)! You came!!” Gojo quickly waved at you and patted on the bed for you to take the space next to him. “Come sit with me!”
Nanami glanced at you over his shoulder but didn’t do much other than bow his head slightly to greet you as he was smoking.
Decidedly, you took a step to join Gojo but a hand on your shoulder stopped you.
Geto led you to where Nanami was smoking and instructed you to sit down beside him on the floor. “Do you smoke?”
“Um… No.”
“Let’s not make her smoke,” Nanami suddenly said when he noticed Geto was bringing his own cigarette pack out.
“He’s right! She’ll reek of cigarettes!” Gojo was practically yelling, from the way his cheeks were tinted bright red, you could tell that he had been drinking. He was slurring most of his words.
“It was merely a question,” Geto sighed, putting a cigarette between his lips to light it.
Nanami pointed at the large plastic bag in the middle of the floor and spoke to you. “These are for everyone, you can take one if you want.”
With his remark, you crawled towards the middle and checked inside the bag. There was beer and a large bottle of wine along with a bunch of cigarette packs in it. “A-are we allowed to drink these on campus?”
“What? You’re gonna rat on us?” Gojo barked out a laugh.
“No,” you mumbled and reached for the wine bottle. “C-can I have this?”
“The whole thing?” Geto raised a brow, “Didn’t you learn to share?”
“Not the entire bottle, I just wanna try it.” You were too meek again, they had all figured you out enough to know what that meant.
“Don’t tell me…” Gojo was pointing a finger at you and grinning. “You’ve never tried alcohol before?”
“I never had the chance.”
You were just getting better the more they learned about you.
Nanami stubbed out the remaining of his cigarette. “Try not to drink too much on your first time.”
Geto glared at Nanami, the wine was there for you specifically. Higher the percentage, the bigger the chances of you letting your guard down.
When you made a move to put the bottle back in the bag to get a can of beer instead, Geto encouraged you to drink it. “We’ll all drink some from the bottle, don’t worry about drinking too much. We’re here with you to prevent that.”
Lies, lies, lies.
The way your eyes sparkled with appreciation when you looked at him as you were unaware of his intentions, was all too innocent. Pure as snow.
You opened the bottle and took a sip, grimacing right after. All of them laughed, making jokes about their first times and chatting about all of the other things until there was a lull in the conversation.
The silence was often filled by Gojo’s horrendous singing or your tipsy giggling, trying to tell a story and being unable to finish it because of how hard you were laughing in between each word.
“So,” Geto started, taking a long drag of his cigarette. “Satoru, when did you have your first kiss?” he asked as if he didn’t know every detail.
Gojo hummed in thought, pretending to try to remember. “I don’t know, maybe when I was twelve or fourteen.” There was a pause before he asked the same question to his friend, almost sheepishly. “When did you have yours, Suguru?”
“I was also fourteen if I remember it right.” Geto put his cigarette down on the ashtray to take a sip from his beer. “Nanami-”
“No.” Nanami didn’t pay attention to any of you and lit up another cigarette.
“Okay.” Geto rolled his eyes before they landed on you. “(name), what about you?”
“That’s… a secret.” You pressed your forefinger against your lips, shushing with a giggle.
“We’re all friends here,” Geto replied, biting back a laugh. “Friends don’t keep secrets from each other, right?”
His words made you look up to the ceiling to think for a long moment. Deciding that he was right, you bobbed your head. “Yes.”
“Yes to what?” Gojo chuckled, he was hanging off upside-down from the bed, pouting while you were thinking and thinking and thinking.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before~” you stretched the word out, barely managing to keep your eyes open. The bottle of wine in your hand was half empty. It wasn’t really a surprise but hearing you say it out loud when you were too shy to speak up your mind was purely erotic.
“Never ever?” Gojo was trying to drink his own beer upside-down.
You shook your head but then started nodding. “Ahh, sooo confusing! I really didn’t have my first kiss. Like ever.”
“That’s a lie, it must be! You’re very friendly.” Gojo sighed his next words, “All the boys must love you.”
Starting to fidgeting with fingers on your lap you shook your head to deny. “I’m not popular amongst boys. Not popular at all with anyone since I’m not that extrovert or pretty.”
“Perhaps you haven’t noticed the attention,” Geto went on to say. “You’re prettier than you think.”
Cheeks flushing, you lifted your gaze to meet his. “You’re just saying that.”
“Have I ever lied to you?” Geto chuckled, “As adorable you are, you’re also the nicest girl I’ve ever met.”
You beamed at him, eyes twinkling like stars. “Y-You really think so?”
“Yes, you’re soo cute!” Gojo joined, crawling towards you. “You’re gorgeous!”
“Aside from your stunning looks, you’re quite talented. Your cursed technique has a promising future and you’re able to learn quickly to improve yourself.” Geto put a hand on his face, covering the lower half of his face. “Hardworking and determined to become a special grade sorcerer, it’s inspiring if not admirable.”
Being bombarded with compliments made you feel like you were on the clouds. The validation you didn’t get from your own family past forgotten, you got lost in the sweetness of their words.
It all made you feel special.
“I’m so happy I came here, it feels like I belong here with you guys. I feel at home.” You started fiddling with the sticker on the wine bottle. “I’m very lucky to have you guys as my friends.”
Gojo pouted his lips and jumped towards you with his arms open. He wrapped them around you, rocking side to side. “You’re soooo adorable! How are you soo cute? I wanna eat you up, you’re like the cutest thing ever! Argh, what did I do to ever deserve you?”
Caught off guard, you hesitantly wrapped your arms around him. “I should be the one saying that.”
Pulling himself back, Gojo turned to Geto, “We should kiss her! Her first kiss should be with people who treasure her deeply. It’s such a sweet thing and as friends, it’s our duty to make that happen!”
“R-really?” Despite what he was saying was outrageous, you were giggling, eyes on him. Looking at him like he meant the world to you.
Innocence being corrupted. Poetic.
“She wouldn’t be comfortable doing that sort of stuff, Satoru. (name) is timid, don’t tease her.”
“I’m not teasing her!” Gojo looked down at you between his arms and blushed bright red, “I mean, I’d kiss her, wouldn’t ya?”
Nanami rolled his eyes, he had heard them rehearse this a million times and it still managed to make him feel the secondhand embarrassment and additionally physically make him grimace.
Nonetheless, it seemed to work for you. Time stopped moving for you, cheeks flushed and mouth agape, your eyes were on Geto, eagerly waiting for his answer.
Stubbing out his cigarette, he averted his gaze. “I would.”
“Nanami,” Gojo called next. “Would you kiss her?”
Nanami stared at the white-haired idiot, he had to be kidding. It was clear as day that they were trying to drag him back into the game.
“Nanami has the most experience between all of us,” Geto lied, now unable to hide his smirk. “You should kiss him, (name).”
This time, you were blushing faintly, eyes blinking slowly with a charming smile on your face. All of those were directed at Nanami and the longing look on your face was enough to make his breath hitch.
“Ah, he’s blushing!” Gojo pointed out with a laugh. “This might be the first time I’m seeing him blush!”
Of course, he would blush from seeing you the way they described you for the first time. Oh, so timid and innocent, begging to be ravished.
“Who do ya want your first kiss to be with, (name)?” Gojo asked softly, his voice coaxing you into safety. They were all your friends, they wanted to help you. They loved you. You knew that, right?
“I don’t know.” Your speech was slurred, the alcohol was starting to hit you harder now.
Gojo squeezed your cheeks together until your lips puckered and turned your face for Nanami to see. “She has such kissable lips, don’t ya think?”
Nanami was trying his best to hold his composure, not wanting to let himself lose control.
“If you don’t kiss her, I most certainly will take her first kiss.” Gojo pressed his lips on your temple, giving you a chaste kiss before moving to whisper in your ear. “I love you so much, so pretty and gullible. So adorable. I don’t wanna share you with anyone else.”
You tilted your head in delight at his words, letting his lips brush against your neck.
How easy to please!
Gojo smiled into your skin, pressing another kiss on your neck.
A cute noise left your lips.
Nanami twitched at the noise and Geto noticed it.
“You should take over before he eats her up,” he said with an amused grin.
Nanami shook his head but he was still unable to tear his eyes away from Gojo planting kisses on your neck and you squirming in pleasure in his arms.
He put an arm around your waist, pulling you a lot closer. You pulled your leg up on his leg to turn your torso towards him.
“What should we do, hmm?” he murmured, his eyes hazy behind his sunglasses. “Nanami doesn’t wanna kiss you but I do…”
Nanami couldn’t bring himself to look away from you. He wanted to jump on you, taking you right here and now as the two idiots watched in awe. Quickly he suppressed the fantasy with his own free will.
Gojo leaned down and you closed your eyes shut, puckering your lips to patiently wait for the kiss.
Nothing mattered anymore.
He put one hand on your waist, the other cupping your cheek as his lips pressed against yours. Your heart was beating rapidly, enough to make you conscious of everything your body was going through. The hand on your waist was hot against your skin and the lips pressing against yours… let heavenly.
You thought that was it. A simple kiss. You didn’t know you could kiss someone more than just pressing your lips against each other but Gojo took it further.
His lips moved harsh against yours, biting and sucking your bottom lip. His hand on your cheek slid to the back of your head and he grabbed a chunk of your hair. Once you opened your mouth to protest, he snaked his tongue inside.
You clutched on his shirt, tears dwelling in your eyes as you involuntarily tasted the bitter taste of beer on his tongue.
The hand on your waist moved to press on the small of your back to pull you in his lap. You moaned into the kiss, arching your back. He knew that was your weak spot, Nanami had told him. He also knew that your inner thigh-
You shrieked when another hand went to your inner thighs.
Breaking the kiss, you looked at Geto in surprise. He took the opportunity to use his free hand to pull you back by your hair and press his lips on yours.
Gojo made a small noise to protest but then turned the situation to his own advantage. His hands went to your waist, then up, up, and up until his thumbs reached to the swell of your breasts.
You opened your mouth in panic but it only helped Geto to force his tongue down your throat. The slick muscle twirled around your own tongue and you started to get dizzy from the taste of tobacco coming from him.
Gojo cupped your tits over your pajama top before starting to knead the supple flesh, you moved your hips subconsciously. Geto put a hand on your hip to move your hips, grinding you on Gojo’s knee. “That’s erotic, (name). I thought you never had a boyfriend before… You’re seducing us, aren’t you?”
Your cheeks flushed but you couldn’t give him an answer as Geto was busy ravishing your mouth with his tongue to savor your taste.
Finally, Geto pulled himself back, a small strand of saliva connecting your lips together broke apart as he smiled looking at your bruised lips.
Like Gojo had said, Geto’s smile was beautiful. A sight to relish. You were grateful to be the reason for his gorgeous smile.
“She’s definitely seducing us. Look at her.” Geto cocked his head to the side, staring down at you with a mocking expression on his face.
“I’m not…”
“You are,” Gojo joined, teasing you was too fun. “You were humping my leg ya know.”
“T-that was Geto-”
“Don’t lie.” Geto’s hand on your hips slid down between your legs and you slouched forward. You let out a moan when he pressed his fingers on your slit over the pajama pants as if he knew exactly where it was. You felt the wetness soaking your pants and leaving an icky feeling. You were about to ask him why he did that but he spoke, saying things that were so not true. “Only little sluts get this wet enough to soak their pants entirely.”
Gojo gasped dramatically. “You’re such a liar! I thought you were an innocent little girl.”
“I’m not…”
“So you’re not an innocent little girl?” Geto moved his fingers side to side, toying with your clothed clit as he pressed himself against you.
“Noo… I didn’t mean it that way…” Legs already shaking, only later you felt something firm and thick pressing on the cleft of your ass.
“You’re moving your hips, begging for it. I’m seeing it with my own two eyes! Having your first kiss must’ve made ya into a slut… You want it, don’t ya?”
You were blushing faintly, eyes blinking slowly while you looked up at Gojo. This was exactly what you wanted. Right? You had to be hoping for it if you were moving your hips like Gojo said. You had become a slut from having your first kiss.
“You cryin’?” Gojo was smirking.
“No?” Confused as to why he asked it, a purposeful grind of Geto’s hips on your ass made your mouth gape open. He was mimicking the movement of fucking you.
“So you like Suguru?”
Of course, he was such a gentleman… most of the time. He was kind and helpful. He always helped you train and looked out for you, giving you the best advice. You trusted him with your life.
“Hmm?” Gojo wasn’t about to repeat himself.
“I like him.”
Geto smirked and gestured with his head for Gojo to move away. With a sigh, the latter crawled away from you as Geto lifted you by your armpits to turn you to face him on his lap.
Your eyes were clouded with lust and your mind slurred with alcohol.
“You’re my little pipsqueak,” he said, caressing your cheek.
A nod.
“I’m going to take your innocence.”
Another nod.
Grinning, he grabbed the hem of your pajama top, lifting it up to your breasts and over your head. You lifted your arms above to help him get rid of the shirt. Since you hadn’t been wearing a bra, your tits bounced free.
Three pairs of eyes were on your bare chest, it made you blush and you covered yourself.
“We’re friends,” Geto assured, grabbing your wrist. “Friends don’t keep secrets from each other, remember?”
You let him pull your arms away from your chest and with a gorgeous smile, Geto placed his hands on your tits, rolling one nipple between his knuckles. He leaned forward to take your other tit in his mouth, causing you to moan audibly.
Gojo wasn’t shy to pull his pants down unlike Nanami who was still desperately trying to act like he was better than them. He wouldn’t stoop low like them. He wouldn’t. He knew he wouldn’t. But then why was he palming himself through his pants?
“Geto…”
“Suguru,” he told you, planting warm kisses on your chest.
“Suguru,” you repeated, gasping as he gently laid you down on the tatami floor.
Stunned, Nanami was unable to say anything as his upperclassman climbed on top of you on the floor of his room. He had told them to do whatever they were going to do anywhere but here. He had told them and Gojo-
“Yo, Nanami,” the guy in question spoke. “Wanna take her oral virginity?”
“What are you talking about?” This was all too much, he didn’t know anything about this.
“Ah, Geto’s taking her virginity cause I lost and he told me to decide whether to let you take her ass virginity or not but I’m feeling greedy, ya take her mouth.”
“I’m… I’m not a part of this!” Nanami’s voice was suppressed by your moan when Geto pinched your nipple. His cheeks tinted pink and he pulled his shirt down to cover his growing bulge.
“You are,” Gojo said, unashamedly spitting in his hand and wrapping it around the base of his cock while his eyes were on you. “I’ve seen ya jerk it off to her. With my own six eyes.”
Although the older one wasn’t looking at him, the mocking tone slapped Nanami in the face. At that moment he felt exposed. Gojo knew. He knew.
He knew how behind closed doors he had your panties scrunched in his hand, inhaling them deeply and jerking off to the picture Geto had emailed him. The low-quality photo had given him such good quality fantasies about you. But he wouldn’t act on them, he wasn’t like them.
He wasn’t-
“Suguru, wait,” you whined when he grabbed the waistband of your pajama pants.
“Nope, not waiting~” He pulled them down, and despite your protests, you lifted your hips to help him. Hooking his fingers into your panties, he peeled them down your legs agonizingly slowly.
(Without you seeing, he tossed them towards his friend who gratefully took them and wrapped them around his cock for extra friction.)
Immediately, you pressed your thighs together to cover your bare pussy. “I-I changed my mind.” Your cheeks were burning and your head was starting to spin. It was all happening too fast for your mind to catch up. “It’s so embarrassing.”
“I told you, we are all friends. Don’t you have any guy friends? This kind of stuff is normal between friends.” Geto’s calming tone was back, lulling you back into safety, telling you that it was all fine. “I’m going to be your first so that you’ll know exactly what to do next time.” There was a long pause and he pretended to frown, feigning being hurt. “I can stop if you want me to.”
Not wanting to disappoint him and fail this ritual of friendship, you shook your head. “N-no. I-I want this.”
Geto spread your legs and grabbed you by your ankles to pull you flush against his hips. “I want you too, pipsqueak.” A hand moved to palm himself through his pants, your eyes followed, watching him grab his bulge to show you how big he actually was.
Flustered, you averted your gaze but came face to face with something even more explicitly naughty.
Gojo’s pants were down to his thighs, enough to expose his cock. You saw his hand moving rapidly up and down on his cock with your panties around it, as he noticed your stare he quickened his hand.
“You shouldn’t look at some other guy when you’re doing it with me.” Geto put a hand on your cheek to turn your head to face him. Although you wanted to keep your eyes focused on his face, your gaze dropped onto his cock released from his pants.
Before you could get flustered over it, Geto cupped your pussy using a hand. His thumb grazed over your sensitive numb and two of his digits slid easily inside. You let out a sharp gasp, toes curling.
Ahh, this was why virgins were the best, awfully sensitive and obedient. The way they didn’t know what was being done to them was the best. Shy girls were the best. Geto loved fucking timid girls who trusted him with their whole life. Corrupting them, making them believe he loved them, and taking their innocence. You were his dark fantasy come alive as if you were made for him and him only.
However, Geto wasn’t that selfish. He could share. Sometimes.
“You’re soaking wet.”
“Don’t say that…”
“Why not?” Smiling he slid his fingers out of you and held them up to your face. Clear fluid was covering them from tip to base. He separated the digits and small strands of the fluids connecting his fingers thinned before splitting apart. “It’s the truth.” He opened his mouth, taking the digits in his mouth to lick your juices as you watched in shock. A low hum emerged from him as he contentedly licked his lips. “You taste sweeter than any candy.”
“Stooop,” you were giggling now, too flustered from his mellow words.
Even though he would love to tease you for hours and take all of your firsts for himself, Geto had to move on. He could hear Gojo grumbling under his breath aside from him jerking off. Also, there was the blonde one.
Geto glanced over his shoulder to steal a quick look at what Nanami was doing.
The second-year was watching intently. Waiting for his turn.
That made Geto chuckle and he turned to you, giving you all of his attention once again. He wrapped a hand around the base of his cock, giving it a simple pump. Though he wanted to stop at that thanks to his spit and the remaining of your juices on his hand, it helped his hand move smoothly, making him want to jerk himself until he came.
He quickly snapped out of it, positioning himself between your legs and dragging the tip of his cock along your folds before tapping lightly.
You murmured something.
“Hmm?”
“T-the condom,” you reminded shyly.
“It’s your first time, right?” he asked, almost too impatiently.
“Y-yes.”
“You’re completely safe on your first time.”
With that he shoved his entire length inside your virgin cunt, tearing your hymen. Both of you moaned for different reasons.
He slumped forward as your virgin walls pulsated around his cock, stretching around his girth and taking the shape of him.
“It hurts,” you mewled, grabbing onto his bicep. “Suguru, it hurts.” Tears welled up in your eyes and seeing that made Geto grow bigger inside of you. He tentatively pulled his hips back and pushed himself up from the floor to look at between your bodies.
His eyes were on the small amount of blood on his cock and dripping from your hole, staining the floor under you.
A sickeningly excited smile spread across his face and he slammed his hips into yours, making you cry out in pain. He planted both of his hands on the floor, each side of your head to gain more control over his pace, and started fucking you frantically.
Gojo let out a breathy laugh and tried matching his pace o his friend’s pace of fucking you. He wasn’t going to last long but Geto seemed like he was going to last longer.
Your hands went to his shoulders, pulling him closer rather than pushing him. He knew you needed the closure. This was something lovers did with each other and Geto wanted to teach you all of it. Definitely not because fucking timid and innocent girls was his fetish.
His thrusts were like an animal in heat, desperately and frenziedly hammering into your pussy. Each time his balls slapped against your ass you let out a shaky moan, the pain now a faint memory.
Your narrow entrance and virgin walls clamping on his cock were heavenly. Every time he moved, your pussy throbbed, clenching around him and you let out those adorable moans he was desperate to hear. He couldn’t stop moving his hips, it was impossible.
“Am I doing good?” you asked, gasping sharply between each word.
Innocent, so innocent.
Geto completely lost himself.
He grabbed the back of your knee and pushed both legs until he could mount you entirely.
In this position he was going so deep, it made your eyelashes flutter and you lost your vision for a moment.
His cock continued stroking your gummy insides while he thrust in your cunt with a vigorous pace but he couldn’t last long because of your virgin walls squeezing around him like you were trying to milk him dry.
He managed to steal a few more thrusts before his cock started twitching inside you. Geto pushed himself balls deep inside you and the tip of his cock kissed your cervix, making your toes curl as his cock spurted thick ropes of cum inside your womb, filling your tummy.
You could feel his seed fill your womb and overflow, as well as the slight twitch of his balls on your skin. It made you bite your lip, your face was wet with tears and possibly snot. However, it didn’t stop Geto from leaning down to kiss you while he continued fucking his cum into you.
Once he broke the kiss, you got to get a good look at his handsome face. His hair was a mess, his bun had mostly come undone and small strands were sticking to his forehead from sweat.
Before the two of you could enjoy the afterglow or catch your breaths, you heard Gojo clear his throat.
Suddenly, shame overflowed all of your senses. Geto on the other hand was unphased, he pulled out of you to watch his cum ooze out from your pussy with amusement. He then whipped his head around to glare at Gojo. “Can’t you stop breathing so hard and moaning when you’re jerking off? I don’t wanna hear any of that when I’m fucking.”
The breaking of the character was fine. You were still lost in your own thoughts and unable to comprehend anything other than how you had lost your virginity to some ‘bad boy’ who was only kind to you. You laid on the floor, exhausted and stuck in your mind.
Gojo laughed, “Nanami, you’re seeing this? I told you he gets sooo mad when you do it, heheh”
“You’re speaking too bravely for someone who has his dick out.” Geto sat on the tatami floor, furrowing his eyebrows.
“What? Ya gonna suck it?”
“I will kill you,” he hissed.
The two were arguing with each other when Nanami got up from where he was sitting and walked over to you.
“Ah.” Gojo was smirking, staring at the tent on the blonde one’s pants. “He’s going at it.”
Geto hummed approvingly.
Nanami crouched next to your head, staring at your bare chest up close. You were gorgeous, your skin looked so soft and your face stained with tears…
He had been trying and trying and trying to hold back but you were too stunning. Seeing you from their perspectives had enchanted him, arousing him to the point of being unable to think clearly.
“Nanami?”
Your eyes were clouded with lust and he could see his own reflection in them. Right now, you needed him and he was more than willing to provide.
Nanami placed a hand on your cheek and caressed the soft skin before leaning in for a kiss. You didn’t refuse, accepting his lips pressing against yours. You tried moving them like Geto had done with you but Nanami’s kiss… It was more gentle yet more possessive. He pushed his tongue inside to twirl your tongues together, to make sure you remembered his taste for a lifetime as he desperately tried savoring yours.
Placing one hand on your tit to knead the soft flesh, he used his other hand to pull down his pants, releasing his aching cock free. As soon as his cock was out, he grabbed your hand and guided it to his exposed cock.
Your eyes widened and you pulled your hand back, breaking the kiss.
“Nanami, you can’t-”
“You are friends, right?” Gojo interrupted, appearing behind Nanami.
It was quiet for a moment before you nodded ever so hesitantly and looked at Nanami, attempting to avoid looking at his cock hovering over your face.
“Nanami wants you to be his first.” Gojo grinned down at you, pushing his sunglasses up to his hair.
“F-first? His-”
Nanami flushed bright red at the revelation and you found yourself blushing as well.
“You should help him out like Suguru did to you! That’s what friends are for!” Gojo’s encouraging words and the power of friendship talk were too much, Nanami almost went limp until Gojo grabbed your hand and guided it back to Nanami’s cock. “Here, I’ll help you.”
Both of you flinched at the intimate skin contact.
Gojo assisted your hand to wrap around the base and slide it up slowly towards the tip glistening with precum. You didn’t need to use your spit to get him nice and slick as his own precum was more than enough. Your classmate made you pull the thin skin towards the tip down to expose the pink tip of the blonde one’s cock whose shoulders tensed in response. “He seems to be sensitive around the tip. You should use your mouth and tease the tip, (name)! On second thought, he would love it if you let him use your mouth!”
All you did was to open your mouth to approve.
Oh, so obedient.
Nanami on the other hand was being torn apart.
He was better than this. He was a good person. He wouldn’t be the type of person to take advantage of some dumb girl to indulge in his own fantasies and-
“Here, lemme help, Nanami.”
Putting his hands on the younger one’s hips, Gojo pushed Nanami forward into your mouth. Your teeth barely grazed against the tip and he moaned at the sensation of your warm mouth. He couldn’t even get angry at Gojo.
Geto sat on the other side of you and instructed you to move closer to Nanami so you could take him in your mouth completely. He placed a hand on the back of your head and helped you bob your head, giving you praises.
Gojo didn’t need to move Nanami’s hips anymore, the blonde one was too lost in pleasure to hesitate or think about his nonexistent pride.
With you being on your hands and knees as you were giving Nanami a blowjob, Geto gave Gojo a thumb up, telling him everything was good to go.
Finally, getting his turn, Gojo slowly crawled behind you like a predator about to bounce on its unaware prey. He spat in his palm and started jerking himself off to get hard again, he had lost count of how many times he had come when Geto was devouring your cunt but he could go on until the morning.
“Arch your back, pipsqueak.”
Complying Geto’s words, you lifted your ass up in the air.
“Now, Gojo’s going to do something really naughty. Be careful not to bite Nanami.”
You made a noise in protest but Nanami silenced you with a sudden thrust of his hips. The tip of his cock grazed the back of your throat, making you gag. Which worked in his favor because now he could shove his cock further down your throat thanks to your tongue laying flat and jaw unclenched.
Gojo put a hand on your ass cheek and spread it, groping the soft flesh before drooling over your hole.
A wave of panic washed over you and you moved your hips to get away. Gojo had you exactly where he wanted though, he pushed two digits inside and stretched them slowly in a scissoring motion. He was breathing heavily while rubbing his cock at the display of you getting skullfucked and ass being played with by him.  
You started squirming, letting out panicked noises that were being muffled by Nanami’s cock in your mouth. The blonde was going insane by your throat clenching around him. His hips slammed into your face, shoving his cock down and down and down until your nose met the blonde hair on the base.
A cough, a gag, and suddenly your face was turning blue. Nanami had a sick expression on his face and the other two were too busy to notice your current problem of not being able to breathe.
“Satoru, stop making gross noises.”
“I can’t help it, she’s so erotic.” He gasped, incapable of holding another second back. He pressed the tip of his cock on your entrance and slowly pushed it inside.
Nanami grabbed a chunk of your hair and started fucking your face. He couldn’t stop thrusting inside your mouth and ravishing you. Making you his own cockslut.
Gojo was still trying to push himself inside you but you were just so tight.
“Shouldn’t you prepare her a little more?” Geto hid a laugh behind his hand.
“I like it tight,” Gojo replied, placing his hands on your hips to pull you towards himself as he was pushing into you.
Not letting you rest, Gojo pulled his hips back, only to suddenly slam into you until almost his entire length was inside. Gojo’s fun was cut short though, as Nanami was choking you with his cock, your walls clenched around Gojo’s cock enough to make him cum instantly.
Geto still hadn’t noticed your face turning blue and had thought his friend just couldn’t hold back anymore. He burst into laughter, making fun of him
The vibrations coming from your throat while you were trying to scream were too much for Nanami to handle. His cock twitched inside your throat moments before he came down your throat. He pulled out and rested his cock on your lips as the tip was still spurting his creamy seed.
He held you in place by your hair as your mouth opened and you tried spitting out his cum. Brows furrowing in pain and anger you glared up at him through your lashes that also happened to be covered in cum. Closing one eye, you continued glaring at him.
“Ahh, you look great covered in cum,” he said, wiping his cum away from your lips using his thumb and pressing a long kiss on your swollen lips. “Sorry, I got over myself.”
After his apology, your mood changed instantly. “Did it feel good?”
“It felt amazing!” Gojo answered instead of Nanami, “This guy probably felt good too, I saw his legs shaking in pleasure. You’re such a good girl, (name)!”
“She’s talented and lovely too.” Geto used your own pajama top to wipe your face. “Just my type.” He patted on your head, pressing a chaste kiss on your hair.
Now, you were blushing. “T-thank you.” You sat on the floor in the middle of all of them. Realizing that you were the only bare-naked person in the room made you cover yourself. “Um… Can I get a blanket or something?”
Nanami did as you politely asked while the other two started plotting their next move.
It was too easy to please you. Easier than to trick you.
Nanami joining them would make everything go butter smooth, this ‘friends don’t have boundaries with each other’ play could go on until you graduated. Geto was smirking at Gojo as he lit a cigarette, their senior year was going to be as boring as he thought it was going to be.
~~~
When Shoko returned to the campus three weeks after leaving, she wasn’t expecting you to be there.
But there you were in the secret smoking spot, sitting on Geto’s lap and trying to smoke a cigarette while Gojo laughed at your coughing. Nanami was smoking quietly but a gentle expression was on his face as he watched you try taking a drag from the cigarette again.
Perhaps, you were dumber than she gave you credit for. She wasn’t the one to judge though, she lit a cigarette and walked towards the group to join them teasing you.
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- come back to me when winter's here || jungkook
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[synopsis] Going off for the last semester of her college, Ellen plans on enjoying it without any trouble. She was going to graduate and leave town, pursuing herself somewhere else. But her plans come to a freezing halt when she spots him. Jungkook, the new center of attention and, more importantly, her ex.
[pairing] idol-to-student!jungkook x student!oc
[genre/warnings] exes to lovers, angst, fluff, mentions of hospitalized relative, jungkook in that black my time outfit- (i said nothing) *[this is just a work of fiction]*
[word count] 7.4k (what the HECK •-•)
[a/n] Early Merry Christmas, Ellen aka @joontella! I am Nani, your Secret Santa for @btswritingcafe fic exchange! This has been such a project to work with because the addition of prompts made my brain run 345 miles per hour to make this work XD I really really appreciate you working with me these past few months. I hope this fulfills the prompts you sent in! Here is your fic! 😘
༶・・❄・・༶
“Be careful and study hard.”
Ellen gave her mom one last hug before letting go.
She was heading to her final semester of college, and she couldn’t be any happier.
She could feel it. Her classes wouldn’t be too hard to breeze through. She had a job lined up starting next summer. Ellen even started a search for an affordable place her friends and her could stay at after college became a thing of their pasts.
“I will, mom. Call me tonight, and take care of yourselves. I love you two.”
With that she set off, piling her handbag and backpack onto the shuttle waiting for her. Ellen tucked them beside her once she found a seat and waved at her parents from the window. There were many students that were dozing off next to her and she hoped the semester would be just as peaceful as they looked.
Nothing could come between her and the sweet relief of school ending now.
•••
“I’m glad you made it safely.”
Milo reached out to grab two of the suitcases that were stowed away in the bottom compartments of the shuttle. He had called her when she was about half an hour away to tell her he’d come to help.
Apparently, her room had been switched to one of the rooms at the top of the building so that was 4 flights of stairs she’d have to climb every day. At least there was an elevator they were allowed to use no matter what. Ellen sighed in relief thinking about that. She was in no means about to do that much exercise after a long day of classes.
“Thank you, for helping me.”
Ellen grunted while picking the rest of her bags out of the vehicle. She backed up and gave a thumbs up to the driver to signal that he was good to go. Giving her a smile, the driver pulled away from the sidewalk, leaving Milo, Ellen, and her 5 bags to fend for themselves.
“Oh. Did you bring everything you owned? You do know we have to go back after school ends…”
“Very funny. Half of this is stuffed with snacks that my mom bought for me. She said they’ll last a while so I shouldn’t go hungry.”
Milo shook his head and chuckled. He’d just moved in a few hours ago and couldn’t wait for his friends to show up to cure his boredom. And seeing Ellen definitely made all of that go away.
“Let’s head up and put these big boys away.”
•••
Ellen took a few hours to set up all of the decorations that she brought with her. She’d had a theme picked out and everything this time, something she’d wanted to try since the first semester.
Her room was divided in 2 parts, one for her and one for the roommate that was assigned to her. Her side was completely decked out in greenery. Fake greenery, but who was asking? Leafy vines were strewn across the walls and potted plants were lined up on the windowsill. She even put together a small table - whose parts took the entirety of one of the bags she’d brought – and placed a few books on it.
Maybe half the stuff wasn’t her mother’s doing after all.
Ellen fell backwards onto her bed, a set of white sheets and a white comforter with leaf prints towards the bottom beneath her. She let out a sigh and stared up at the ceiling. She was seriously regretting skipping out on going to the gym with her friends that summer. Hopefully the flights of stairs would motivate her and help her become a little more fit by the end of the semester.
Ellen closed her eyes, wondering if she’ll get to know her teachers well enough to make things easier for the next few months. The job she’d managed to earn just a few weeks before summer break ended would be one as an assistant. Having a few good recommendations would greatly help her progress from there.
A smile grew on her lips as she shifted to her side. She was excited for classes.
•••
Ellen was not, in fact, excited for the early morning ones, though. She did have a few spread out throughout the day so she wouldn’t be drowsy and miss meals, but the 8:00 am math class was not going to be a favorite.
She threw on the outfit she picked out the night before and trudged down the stairs. She did set her timer a while earlier to find her class and claim a good seat. None of her friends were in this class with her so she could only hope to find a student to study with later on.
Ellen managed to find her class 10 minutes before it started and found two seats: one at the front and one in the back.
She did the most sensible thing and chose the back seat. Math wasn’t always her forte, but she knew she could focus just fine seated in a corner.
A few minutes later, she spotted her teacher walk in with a coffee mug in one hand and a folder in the other. A classic math teacher.
“Hello, students. I am Tom Fort, and welcome to my class. Without any further interruptions, let’s begin.”
Ellen put a hand into the front pocket of her backpack and felt around. The teacher started to write down a couple of introductory topics onto the whiteboard so she thought getting her calculator to set things up would be a good idea. But she felt nothing. She forgot her calculator.
A sigh escaped her lips as she spread her arms out on her desk. This was going to be a slow day.
•••
Ellen somehow found the time to come back to her room for a nap. It wouldn’t be too long, she convinced herself, she would be back to attend her last class in no time.
Except for when the alarm she had set before dozing off started going off, and she had two minutes to run to class.
Thankfully it was one of the classes that was close to her dorm building, so it only took her those two minutes to get there. She nearly walked straight into the teacher as she came into the room, spotting her friends towards the middle.
“I was just about to call you!”
A head of bouncy curls stared back at Ellen as she sat in the spot they’d saved. Hye looked ready for a night out rather than a late afternoon class.
“Sorry, I fell asleep and sprinted here.”
“Ladies. If the conversations could come to a stop, I have something important to address before my class begins.”
The teacher, Mr. Linn McRoe, was someone that Ellen knew for a couple of years now. He’d taught several of her journalism classes, time long enough to form a special kind of academic bond.
This class was going to be her last as a college student, and she was glad it was him that would still be teaching her. She believed he would also make a wonderful source of recommendation as he himself had been in the industry 10 years before he began teaching.
The class went quiet within a few seconds, staring at the man with silvering black hair. Mr. McRoe cleared his throat and put on a smile.
“I know most of you, and as final semester students, you should know that knowledge will not stop coming your way even if your traditional schooling ends.”
He took a step back and gestured towards the door, as if it were a signal for someone to come in.
“Which is why I’m going to be introducing this young man, a new transfer that has decided to come back to finish his degree after years of being in a job many would find rather challenging.”
Ellen turned to look at the door, curious as to who he was referencing to. What kind of job would take this guy out of school before he could finish?
Just then a tall, dark haired boy entered the room, his boots echoing as they clacked against the tiles. He stood beside the professor and brought a hand up to fix his bangs.
Ellen’s heart seemed to freeze, bringing the rest of her senses to a sudden halt. It couldn’t be…
“Class, this is Jeon Jungkook, or some of you particular music lovers might recognize him as Jungkook of BTS.”
It was… him.
Jungkook gave Mr. McRoe a small smile before lightly bowing his head.
“Would you like to introduce yourself a little more? Although, some people,” the professor looked at a group of giggling girls towards the other and of the room and continued, “already seem to know quite a bit.”
Jungkook looked a little nervous as he began speaking.
“H-hello… nice to meet you all. I am Jungkook, and I hope you guys welcome me for the next few months.”
“Thank you, young man. Please go ahead and take a seat, we will begin class.”
Ellen felt a hand press against her shoulder, shocking her out of her daze. It was just Lena, one of her friends. She gave Ellen a concerned look, as if she was asking her if she was okay. Calming her nerves after the sudden coming to, Ellen realized two things. One, a few people around her were looking at her. Maybe she shouldn’t have gasped so loudly. And two, the boy at the front of the room seemed to have caught on. He was staring with wide eyes, right into her own. He knew it was her.
She was seriously regretting jinxing herself earlier by repeating that this semester would go by without a hitch. And now here she was, face to face, with her ex.
•••
The next few days flew by, the rush of their first set of weekly quizzes making everyone lose track of time.
Ellen was sitting in her journalism class, listening to Mr. McRoe talk about the steps to conducting a good interview in a professional manner. He had introduced the class to a project where they had to ask a few personal questions that centralize on a particular adversity they might have faced in their lifetime.
Thinking they’d get to choose, she and her friends had decided to work together. But Mr. McRoe had something else on his mind.
“I have already chosen the groups you’ll be working in, but this one will be in pairs.”
The room filled up with collective groans while the professor waved his hand in front of him.
“I’ll start calling your names, and one person from each pair can come up here to collect a voice recorder. Pick which one will be the interviewer and who will be the participant, and whoever chooses to be the interviewer, start building your questions whenever you get home. These will have to be fresh for when you start recording so that the other person can answer as honestly as possible.”
Ellen sighed and waited for her name to be called. She was hoping to be the interviewer, but she didn’t care if she had to be at the answering end either. Hopefully whoever she got would be a good partner.
“Jungkook and Ellen, one of you please come up here.”
The world once again seemed to stop revolving as she took in the teacher’s voice. Why did this keep happening to her?
She watched as her partner slowly walked to the front of the room, grabbing one of the small, black devices and turning to look at her. Well, he wasn’t looking directly at her. He had his head down as he made his way towards her.
“H-hi.”
Ellen couldn’t answer. What would she say? After all these years, and the first thing she has to hear him say is “hi”.
“I.. do you have any preference for what role you want to do for this project?”
Alright. If he is so clearly past everything that happened, then she can be, too.
“No. Whatever you like.”
Jungkook ran his thumb over the buttons on the recorder, trying to work on his nerves to calm down. Being in front of her again... he didn’t think that would happen. Not like this.
“I would like to be the interviewer, I already have a few questions in mind. I’ll keep working on them, and I was also thinking if we co-”
“That sounds good. Just tell me whenever you want to record.”
Ellen heard the sound of a ruler tapping against the board. Mr. McRoe had been talking again.
“I will dismiss class early, so go ahead and work on this. The deadline is this coming Friday. Good luck.”
Picking up her backpack, Ellen stood in front of Jungkook.
“Thanks. See you later.”
•••
Jungkook apparently wanted to meet the day before to start working together. He appeared before her after class ended and talked about recording in one of the unused classrooms at the other end of the building.
How he managed to learn about them in the few days of being here, Ellen didn’t know, but all she could say was she wouldn’t be too far from help if he tried anything funny. There were a few study rooms in the hallway they were headed to, so she had nothing to worry about.
“I was thinking we could get this faster by making the introduction introducing your adversity, and then I’ll start with the questions.”
“Alright.”
They arrived at one of the classrooms and opened the door, pushing it aside to see a few chairs stacked on top of the desks. Jungkook went straight ahead and picked two of them up, bringing a chair for her and one for himself.
Ellen sat down and took out the recorder she kept in her pocket as soon as he handed it to her earlier.
“You can start recording then.”
Jungkook nodded, taking out a pen from his jacket and opening up his notebook to a page. Maybe where he wrote down his questions. He took the recorder from her hand and pressed the top button.
“This is interviewer, Jeon Jungkook, and today’s topic will be over a certain adversity and its consequences. How someone got through a tough time in their life and is doing today. Our subject revolves around our participant, who is here with us today. Please introduce yourself.”
Ellen took the recorder back from him and decided to keep it between them to stop the swapping, already annoyed with having to touch his hands. She kept feeling jolts of warmth over her palms, her face expressing the confusion as to why her body was reacting that way.
“I’m Ellen Winters, a student at the Greene Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts.”
“I would like to start by asking what your story is.”
Ellen exhaled as she spoke into the device again.
“I, uh, am studying in my final semester as a journalism major. I come from a small town close to Colorado Springs, and I’ve been there, or here, my whole life.”
Jungkook’s eyebrows knit together as he continued.
“Now I would like to continue with maybe the hardest question. What is the hardest thing that’s happened to you, and what followed?”
Ellen’s stomach felt as if it was burning up. She had to think about this question. She had been thinking about it ever since she knew she was going to be the participant, but she hadn’t come up with anything. What should she talk about? The one time her grandmother scolded her about not being messy and it taught her to have an organized lifestyle? Or when her dog died and how it was one of her first experiences with such severity? Or…
“About 5 years ago,” she started, unsure how the words just started forming on her tongue.
“My grandfather was hospitalized for an accident. He is one of the closest people to me. It was my first ever experience with having a family member go to the hospital, besides my dog.
“It was a lot to take in, everyone seemed occupied with how they were dealing with the situation. Thankfully he recovered very well, but a few other things occurred at the same time. So it’s a memory that will stay with me.
”I would say the things that year taught me include my consistent will to be there for my family and more importantly, the strength I’ve had when an important person chose to leave. I am proud of myself for picking myself back up after that.”
Jungkook’s eyes were double their size by the time Ellen finished talking.
“Uh. Can you elaborate on what you meant by “someone important leaving?”
•~•
5 years ago.
Ellen sat next to her grandfather’s hospital bed as tears spilled down her cheeks. She couldn’t believe this happened; she couldn’t lose him.
“Papa...”
Between school, being home, and visiting the hospital often, she felt as if time was just speeding past her. And she realized that not once had her boyfriend, Jungkook, come to console her.
Ellen called him one day, and he made up an excuse that he had been training and he would make it sometime soon. She understood that he was on his way to achieving his dream as a singer. But she didn’t think of asking him how much he dreamed of being together with her.
She didn’t have the time. All she could do till the day that her grandfather recovered and was allowed to be sent home, was have her asking dismissed. He would come over for a bit and leave just as quickly, sometimes suddenly hanging up on her, too.
And then the day came where he just stopped altogether. He’d left a note that said he was leaving, and he did just that.
He said they would be happy. She didn’t know why she believed him.
•~•
Back to the present.
“Oh. How was it... after that?”
“It had taken everything within me to divert myself from it. I did realize that the experience taught me things, but I still needed to get away. So I dedicated my time to studying. To getting out of here and pursue my own dreams.”
She glanced at Jungkook, noticing the way he was fidgeting with his pen.
“I wasn’t leaving anyone behind without an explanation. They supported me, and I wanted to show them I can do it. I will reach my dreams and still have them by my side. Good relationships are like that.”
“Elle...”
Her head turned away from him. She couldn’t hear his voice, the same angelic one that she used to hear whispering ‘i love you’ into her ear, call her by her nickname again.
“That should be enough for this project.” She held up the small recorder and tossed it into his hands. “You can edit that and turn it in.”
“Elle... please.”
Ellen turned to leave the classroom, keeping the door open enough to make sure he heard the rest.
“Happy birthday, Jungkook.”
She stared at his hands, unable to meet his eyes. She could see them shaking lightly, her own breathing picking up. She wanted to get out of there.
“I know it’s your birthday, but please give me the gift of leaving me alone from now on.”
•••
Ellen made sure to ignore him after that.
It had been a few months since then, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t keep him out of her mind. Her mother had called asking why she couldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving break, and she decided to talk to her about him.
“Mom... there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while. I just.. didn’t know how to bring it up.”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Ellen paused, once again unsure if she should even be making this a big deal.
“He’s here, mom.” She continued, feeling the rise and fall of her heart picking up its pace. “Jungkook’s here.”
“What?
“He’s a transfer student. And he’s in my journalism class.”
“Have you two talked?”
“I...”
Ellen could hear her mother’s silence urging her to answer. She wasn’t sure what she would say considering how she reacted the last time she heard of him.
•~•
5 years ago.
“Mom.. he’s gone. He wasn’t at his apartment. His roommate said that... he left a note and just left.”
Ellen saw her mother’s hands clenched into fists as she walked towards her, crouched down next to her spot by the kitchen floor.
“I’m so sorry, baby... He is such an idiot for putting you through this.”
Ellen threw herself into her mother’s arms and sobbed. She didn’t understand what could’ve possibly happened between them for him to leave even without a goodbye.
Idiot.
•~•
Back to the present.
“We did... but I couldn’t bring it up again, Mom.”
“Ellen. Do you still have feelings for that boy?”
She didn’t know. Did she?
How could she ignore the fact that every time she saw him and physically had to ignore him, it was hard on her heart. How could she ignore the sweet memories that flooded her mind from before he left. When he was good to her.
“I have to go, baby. I’ll call you again.”
Ellen hung up the phone and stood by her bed. What was she doing?
•••
“No, not that one!”
Ellen and her friends had decided to go shopping for the upcoming Winter dance, the one night that the academy held a proper party. They were given the week off of homework, too, to study and catch up on sleep. Finals were just around the corner.
Her friend, Lena, was pointing out different styles and helping Ellen with her dress since she’d finished her own shopping. Her occasional ‘mhm’ and ‘oh no’ echoed throughout the empty chamber they sat in at the dress store.
“I’ve changed at least 6 times by now, do we need to go to another store?”
Ellen raised an eyebrow at her two other friends. They seemed to be whispering about something.
“What’s keeping you two busy?”
One of the girls, Hye, smiled and turned her attention onto Ellen.
“Well… I was doing some digging. It turns out that they added your name to the possible Winter Royals contest they’ll be holding at the dance.”
“Wait what? When did you guys submit my name?”
Hye stood up and placed her hands on her hips. It gave Ellen the image of her mom ready to scold her.
“That’s not the important part. What’s important is that we are good to go for your winning moment because we held a meeting earlier to collect voters.”
Ellen shook her head lightly.
“Is that not coercing the people to do whatever we want?”
“I did use a bit of my charm to come to a conclusion – one that benefits us. But think of it as a successful campaign, one where we will finally end a semester after a fun night.”
“Why didn’t one of you enter?”
Ellen scratched at her arms. The dress she sported had silver tulle for the sleeves and glittery pins around her waist. It itched way too much to be the one. She was going to have to change again.
“I didn’t want to enter cause... of this.”
Roy, the girl that was still seated on the couch next to where Hye was, looked down. She had a white cast wrapped around her left ankle, the result of a stupid night of partying at a frat house when she slipped on an orange peel. On the counter. Ellen wondered how all of them even sticked when they were like the four sides of a square. Maybe four sides of the same square. But still.
“I just didn’t want to.”
Lena had been scrolling through her phone, clearly impatient to get back to the dress selection.
“Well, I suppose I could have joined. It is right up my alley.” Hye continued. “But I remember you telling me a few years ago that you’ve wanted to win something like this, Elle.”
Ellen gave her a smile and reached out to hold her hand.
“So of course, we’re going to make sure you’ll get it!”
Lena got up from her seat and gave the two a pressed smile before turning serious.
“Sentimental! Now time to get Ellen a good dress.”
•••
Ellen sat at her desk and tapped a pen against her chin.
She had been stuck on a certain math problem for the past hour, and she couldn’t ask a friend because of their own hefty study sessions. She was on the verge of calling her dad for help when she remembered something her grandfather taught her.
He was someone that Ellen admired a lot. He wasn’t a college graduate, but he seemed to have this colossal amount of information passing in and out of his mind at all times. She got to work and got an answer close to one of the multiple choice questions, so she decided to go with that.
Did she just get her answer correct through slight guess work? Yes. Did it matter now that everything was finished? No.
She closed her laptop and stacked her book on top of it, leaning back to stretch her body. Glad that the review she’d been doing for her math class ended, Ellen walked over to her bed. She just had to go over a few more important topics and she’d be good to go.
She wondered how she was going to do. She had been working hard the past few months and these exams were the only things separating her from graduating and leaving.
Leaving... him behind this time.
Ellen didn’t think her past would come back to remind her of all she tried to forget. This was the most she’d had to think about Jungkook since she first came to college, the constant schoolwork helping coax his leaving and eventually the pain out of her.
She let out of sigh and turned back to her notebooks.
Maybe that’s just what she needed to get him off his mind again.
•••
They’d reached the Winter party just minutes before realizing that they had missed half of the games.
“Do I have to stress that we are ‘fashionably late’ right now?”
Hye was decked out in a red dress with a flowy skirt that rippled around her like waves. Lena and Roy followed close behind. One was in a short, dark blue dress that reached her thighs, the rest covered up by her long matching boots; the other in a black maxi skirt with daisies spread across it.
As they pushed through the crowd, wanting to be closer to the punch table, Ellen’s eyes glazed her surroundings. She’d been to parties before, but this one seemed extra special. She could see the faces of classmates she knew since she’d set foot into college, enjoying themselves. She smiled.
And that’s when she saw him.
Jungkook was by some of those girls. The kind to rub themselves all over the boy they wanted. She could see Miri, a girl in a very tight dress dancing with her arms around his neck, doing just that. But, Jungkook looked off. He looked displeased and quite disgusted by their behavior.
Why did she care? But Ellen couldn’t take her eyes off of them. She saw the way Jungkook’s hands picked at Miri’s arms, carefully moving them away. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she saw him turn away from the girl, hanging his head low.
Ellen caught what could only be described as a sigh leave Jungkook’s mouth, his eyes travelling back up, this time locking with hers. She felt as if she was stuck, as cheesy as that sounded. But the way he didn’t want to leave her gaze made her feel mesmerized. It made her want to go back to the times when he kissed the back of her hands and looked at her softly. He was staring with his wide eyes. How was she supposed to resist?
She glanced away from her thoughts and diverted her gaze towards her own dress. That’s when it clicked. The leather of her dress matched that of Jungkook’s jacket, the color of the buttons that lined his clothes seemingly coordinated with her silver dress strings. That’s why he was staring at her; she looked as if she had planned this out. If placed next to each other, they could’ve won the best dressed couple award.
But this was a school party and neither were they a couple.
As if on cue, the sound of someone tapping a mic echoed through the speakers, the music coming to a whispering halt. A man with a classic suit with a funky red tie emerged towards the front of the stage: the head of the academy. Ellen had met him personally once before, when he came to judge a baking contest in one of the previous years.
He smiled and spoke into the mic.
“Students and staff, welcome to the Winter dance for this year. You all have a busy week of finals coming up causing this party to be the last of your college experience.”
Ellen clapped along with some of the others as the headmaster continued.
“I hope you all enjoy yourselves tonight. Good luck for the finals!”
A teacher tapped his shoulder, causing the man to turn around. He reached for the envelope the teacher handed him and looked back at the crowd of students, smiling sheepishly.
“I forgot to announce that we tallied up the votes for the Winter Royals contest that we also planned for today. Will…” The headmaster fumbled with the envelope, “…Jeon Jungkook and Ellen Winters come onto the stage?”
Shivers ran up her spine as Ellen’s friends cheered for her to move forward. How did she forget the contest? Her eyes were planted on the headmaster’s grin and the feeling of someone else moving through the crowd with her. Him.  Maybe… school parties did have exceptions.
She entered onto the stage from the left stairs, spotting Jungkook walking towards her from the opposite side. The headmaster moved towards him first, his hands carrying a large, silver crown that looked fit for an king. He placed it on Jungkook’s slick, raven hair and left a pat on his shoulder.
Jungkook smiled, a faint blush appearing across his cheeks. He thanked the old man and swept his eyes past him to look at Ellen. She looked away in time to feel the weight of a light tiara against her curls.
“Well, they did certainly dress to match each other’s titles. I present you Winter King and Queen for this year’s dance! Enjoy the rest of tonight. Thank you.”
Ellen didn’t want to be on stage any longer. She didn’t understand the overwhelming feeling of unease bubbling inside her stomach. She gave one last smile to the crowd – who already parted to dance again - before walking off the stage.
•••
“How did I not expect him to be a candidate? That was so…”
Ellen couldn’t find the words to describe how she felt when the headmaster said their names together. It wasn’t that she didn’t like winning; but him with his gorgeous self, standing next her. Her as his queen. Him as her king. She shuddered at those thoughts. Why was she still thinking about him that way? He left a long time ago.
“I was… going to tell you that.”
“Tell me what?”
Hye, scratched at her braided hair and looked down.
“The voters from that meeting also started talking about the possible King for the dance and they all mentioned Jungkook. So, it was already decided he’d be up there. With you.”
Ellen shook her head. She couldn’t blame anyone. She felt as if she was acting childish for all of this, why did it matter if he won? It was just some stupid party contest.
“That’s alright, Hye. Did you guys want to head back?”
“Um, heck yeah! You know I’m dying to take these clothes off and put on those pajamas I got. Maybe get warm under some blankets to watch some movies and fall asleep.”
“Roy…”
Lena placed a hand against Roy’s shoulder and smiled. She couldn’t help but agree to those things, too.
“Let’s go then!”
•••
The next day, Ellen decided to head downstairs.
She had been informed that she had mail to be picked up. Apparently, it was sent to her last night by the front desk, but they couldn’t contact her after hours. She assumed it was from her parents since they were allowed to send letters and packages to her dorm address.
But the sending name had another name on it. From Jungkook, it read.
Ellen felt anger building up as she stared at it. Her hands gripping at the envelope that was covered in a dark red hue, a fancy wax stamp closing the flap. Why... won’t he just leave her alone?
She walked over to the sitting area in the corner and proceeded to open the cover, her eyes scanning over its contents.
-=-=-
Hey, Elle...
I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to call you that anymore, but I wanted to send this to you. You told me not to bother you, and I don’t want to show up in front of you when you don’t want to see me.
I can’t make up whatever happened between us, but... I just
Every day I see you, I can’t stop thinking about you. And I want to apologize. For being such an idiot back then. I regret it. And now wishing I could have done things differently won’t change anything.
The reason for this is...
You wished me happy birthday. It’s only nice I wish you, too. Even if it’s not your birthday today.
Happy birthday, Ellen. I... hope that you are doing alright.
Your
From, Jungkook.
-=-=-
Ellen looked up, her hands dropping to her lap.
She could feel a million thoughts skittering across her brain and chest, making it hard for her to breathe. How should she even be feeling after this?
She thought of her mother’s words again. Did she hate him still? Or is something else going on?
•••
That next week seemed to fly by, although leaving enough time to stress for the finals. Everyone seemed to pack whatever they could as they couldn’t wait to get back home. Being a small academy, it was easy to vacate the limited number of students, some living as close as a neighborhood over.
With everyone out of the building, everything Ellen experienced up till that point seemed to vanish. It felt strangely calm. She didn’t mind though; she was finally done with school. Freedom was nice and quiet.
Then Christmas finally arrived.
Ellen bent down to pick up a few of the smaller ornaments. The tree they’d kept in their common area had long been needing a good makeover. But the flurry of commotion that the exams set off left it bare, shivering with the lack of attention in the corner. She had experience with setting up the tree on Christmas day multiple times as her family had a tendency to put it off for weeks, so this wasn’t anything she wanted to rush.
She’d decided not to go back home till the next week as her parents needed to go travelling to visit family. After all of the sleepless nights she pulled, she said a definite “no, thank you” and they agreed to pick her up the next Friday. Her mother had already reprimanded her for not making it home for Thanksgiving break and now this. She’ll surely be scolded for not going home with them, but she didn’t care for now.
Ellen examined the tree across from her. She was by no means an expert, but she loved doing this. Presents, stress, exams… everything seemed far away when she had people she loved by her, doing something as a whole. It was something that made her feel less lonely.
Then he had to leave, breaking a chain of good holidays. Ellen sighed. This Christmas would be one she would be spending alone. She stared at the glittery red ornament in her hands, thinking of her family.
“I’ll be with you guys next Christmas. I hope all of your wishes come true and you’re happy.”
The door to the room opened, causing her to turn her head. She stayed firm on her feet as she spotted a mess of curls peek through the opening.
“I’m sorry, I’ll come back if you’re busy-”
“Jungkook?” Ellen’s eyes widened as she took him in. “What are you doing here?”
She watched as he walked towards her. He looked… so good. His baggy jeans swayed with every step he took and a flannel shirt hung off of one arm, covering his Balenciaga tee. Of course, he could afford such things. He was an idol.
But why was this boy always bumping into her?
Before she could open her mouth to say something, he held out a cup and smiled.
“It’s hot chocolate. I was going to make coffee, but this seemed more appropriate for the occasion.”
Elen stared at his outstretched hand, her thoughts causing quiet chaos in her head. Why were things so difficult with him? Why couldn’t she just forget about it all and just pretend he was nothing more than a classmate? Nothing more than someone that came into her life suddenly and was going to leave the same way one day? Again...
She took the cup from him and nodded, offering a silent thank you. She knew if she opened her mouth, one of those questions were bound to come out, voicing themselves without her knowing.
“Was I interrupting you? I heard talking, and I wasn’t sure, so I just came in.”
Jungkook looked behind him and bent down to take a seat on one of the couches closest to the tree. He stared up at her as he sipped from his little mug.
“No, just talking to myself. What are you... doing here?”
Ellen sat down next to him, although at the other end of the couch, nowhere near him to be exact.
“I wanted to stay behind. I heard you were staying, so I thought I would, too.”
Jungkook took another sip, privately swallowing the anxiety slipping up his throat.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t know. Elle... Ellen, do you... still think about me?”
Ellen felt something bubbling in her gut.
“I’m doing this all wrong... I meant to word this differently.”
Jungkook set his mug aside and fit his head into his hands instead. He felt so frustrated. Why couldn’t he just talk to her normally? Was it her piercing eyes that stopped him in his tracks? Or the memories of what he’d done?
“I do, Jungkook. And it hurts.”
She wasn’t sure why she was answering him. He deserved no explanation, not after offering her nothing when he made that decision years ago. But the words tumbled out, her heart telling her how much it wanted her to let him know her constant state of confusion and hurt lately.
“Oh. If it makes you feel better... I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you ever since I left. It sounds so cruel to say after what I must have made you feel, but I just... can’t take the thoughts to a place farther from you.”
Ellen bit the inside of her lip, the block helping her from bursting out about how much he was right. How much it did hurt when he left. How much she cried for him. How a piece of her felt lost for so long.
“I really... can’t say anything to make it up to you, but I want you to know. That I’ve thought about you in ways that I was stupid not to realize when I left hastily. Whatever I did, I thought of the fun we had. The love you endlessly gave me no matter what. Looking back... I’ve had the best memories coming from you, and to think I threw all of that away, afraid that I wasn’t ready for love while beginning my career... It was the biggest mistake of my life.”
Jungkook gazed into her eyes, not even trying to hide the tears wetting his own.
“I don’t know if this is too early, but I really want to ask you this, Elle... will you give me another chance? I understand if you have moved on, and you don’t want to see me anymore. But... I want to start over. I want a chance to prove to you that... I’m not the me that left you all those years ago”
Ellen felt tears prick her eyes as she took in his words and soft expression. She had a million thoughts running in her mind, each one of them waiting for her to answer.
DId she want to give him another chance? Or did she just want to get away like she’d planned all those months ago? There was one answer that stood at the heart of everything confusing. She still cared for Jungkook.
Then what was she waiting for? What was stopping her from doing it again with him? They could take it slow, to get to know each other and learn to adjust to each other’s lives. She wouldn’t want more than for him to be gentle with her, to have him understand that what she felt was from a long time of convincing herself that she would be loved unconditionally and truthfully again, but failing to achieve it.
“Just let me love you... again. Please.”
He just wanted one more chance. One more chance to prove that he won’t ever need another again. That he’d do it again, and he’d do it right this time. With her.
“Jungkook...”
Ellen didn’t want to make this more than it had to be. She was tired of having to overthink things; to just be able to take things into her own hands and deal with them as they come would be such a relief. That relief was what she wanted. What she knew was what Jungkook was wanting to give her this time. And she was going to take it.
“OK.”
Raising his head, Jungkook’s quiet cries broke off. He wasn’t sure if this moment he had been dreaming or if he was hearing correctly. She said...
“I will give you another chance. I want to... do this with you, again.”
Jungkook found himself bringing her into his embrace in an instant. There was not a single doubt that came to mind with it. He had made decisions on a whim before, for better and for worse. But this was definitely for the better.
She brought her hands up to rest on the back of his shoulders, pressing herself closer to his body. It felt so warm and safe, to be back in the arms that hadn’t been wrapped around her in so long. But this time, they had a promise within them. That they would be there for her to cry on this time; to hold onto when joy was all around them; to guide her when things got too hard for herself. To remind her that now, she wasn’t lonely anymore.
“You... do?”
She smiled, letting herself feel the love he was wanting to give.
“Yes. But... too bad. I don’t have a present to give you for Christmas, and it’s also now the day we are together again.”
Jungkook chuckled, loving the way she fit perfectly in his arms.
“Don’t worry about that. The only gift I ever wanted was you.”
He had heard the words that she said before he walked into the room, something about her family’s wishes coming true. He also had been wishing a wish for the past few winters. He would look out of his bedroom window and admire the star-filled sky, spotting an especially brighter and bigger one every year. And he would wish upon it, that one day, he would get to meet her again. To make it right.
“All those wishes on stars finally led me to you.” Jungkook whispered to himself.
“What is it?”
Ellen pulled back from the hug to glance at him. Their faces where just centimeters apart, just enough for the tips of their noses to touch.
Shaking his head, Jungkook leaned forward, closing the gap. He pressed his lips against hers, smiling into the soft curves.
“I love you, Elle.”
“Merry Christmas, Jungkook. I love you, too.”
༶・・❄・・༶
[a/n pt.2] THIS WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE AHHHH 😂 i hope you enjoyed it! This is an addition to both the fic exchange and the christmas event that @softbobamilktae and I have been collabing for on her blog - please check out her posted and upcoming stories, too ^~^
[a/n pt.3] also i did want to apologize for delaying the posting of this story. My finals did take away a few days and tumblr was so mean T-T that it wouldn't post even after trying so many times. Thank you so so much to everyone that had to wait and also hear me complain about this problem! I hope this posts soon :(
[tagging] @taehoneycheeks + @jinnie-forthe-winnie + @galaxtea-writes
a note that i would really appreciate it if you could like/reblog the story if you enjoyed it. take a peek at my masterlist to see if anything piques your interest, too. if you would like to be added to the taglist, please send me an ask or comment under any one of my stories! 🥰
༶・・❄・・༶
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MC + Cursed Toddler-fied Boys
prompt: All the boys suffer the same fate as Satan by reading ‘The Forbidden Book of Toddlerization’
Lucifer
You have to wonder why they kept so many cursed books around, just out like this. You would think, like any normal person, with this continuing to happen, that they would keep them locked up or something. But no. They just leave them out for anyone to find….
“I’m going to the meeting!” Lucifer yelled, stamping his foot. His face twist in a petulant frown. It would be rather adorable, if you hadn’t been arguing with him for the past 20 minutes
“Lucifer, we talked about this. You can’t go to the meeting. You need to stay here.”
“No! I wanna go to the meeting! It’s very important and everyone is counting on me!” His arms are wailing now as he stamped his foot more.
Of course, you couldn’t let him go to the first of the month meeting like this. His pride would be wounded beyond compare if anyone else saw him like this. But reasoning with him wasn’t working. You had to resort to more, unsavory tactic to win. “But the meeting was cancelled. Lord Diavolo called earlier to let me know.”
Lucifer stopped stamping his feet and waving his arms to look at you with a vacant expression you didn’t know he could muster. “Really?”
Gods help you. “Yes, really.”
He seemed to think about this for a moment before he beamed, “ok!” His mood instantly brightening. “I believe you, because [Y/N] would never lie to me.” ‘Forgive me Lucifer’ You think to yourself. “What are we gonna do instead then?”
“Why don’t we play a game instead to pass the time? Would you like that?”
“I know chess!” He exclaimed loudly. “Let’s play that.”
Of course, knowing and being good at it were two different things. In this state you were actually able to beat Lucifer several times. When he retuned to normal the day was ‘conveniently’ put away for sometime after.
Mammon
“Mammon. Please. I’ll just be gone for a minute.”
“Nooooooo!” Mammon wailed when you tried to get up again. Clinging to your waist tightly to keep you on the couch. “Onii-chan said you had to stay with me! Stay with me! Stay with me!”
After reading The Forbidden Book of Toddlerization, Mammon had, of course, reverted to the personality of a small child. His brother made fun of him, say ‘what’s the difference’, but Lucifer knew that this could be a disaster if he was set to wander free in this state across the Devildom. So he sat you to babysit him.
“Mammon, I promise I’ll be right back. I’m just going to get us some snacks for our movie.”
“Then let me come with you!” He whined, still clinging to you. In this state it seemed he had also taken on the personality of a baby duck. Imprinting on you and following you around everywhere you went in his room. He hadn’t left you alone for 5 seconds since he got this way. “I promise I’ll be good!”
“It’s not a question of you being good or bad Mammon-chan.” He liked to be called Mammon-chan right now. “It’s that you need to stay here. If someone sees you like this well…they could use it to tease you.”
“No…I don’t want to be teased anymore….” His voice was low, and sad. His bright eyes looking on the verge of tears, like kids do when they’re said, before he buried his face into your side. “Mammon-chan doesn’t want to be made fun of anymore. Mammon-chan also doesn’t want to be alone anymore.”
You sigh. Unable to argue with him when he was like this. Your hand lifted to pet his head, which he seemed to appreciate, before you text Satan to bring you some snacks. He was always reliable and would do it for you.
Once the affects of the book had worn off, Mammon denied any of this happening. The mere mention would cause his face to turn red and yell about how, “that didn’t happen!” You almost wish you had taken a video of it to show him. Guess you would just have to keep Mammon-chan forever in your heart.
Levi
You went to Levi’s room after class to check on him in his….condition.
Since he did remote learning a lot of the time, being an otaku, it was pretty easy to keep him away from people so they did see him in the current state he was in. Apparently as a toddler he didn’t like being around people either.
So, you had set him up comfortably in his room before heading to class. Promising to come back that afternoon to be with him.
“Levi! I’m back! How are you—what are you doing?!?!”
“Playing with my toys.” Levi replied, with an obvious expression, as a sea of toys stretch out in front of him where he laid on his belly on the floor.
Your brain stopped. Completely at a loss for words. Levi was going to kill you when he returned to normal, because toddler-Levi, left unattended, had unboxed nearly all of his figurines from their packaging. Some of which were incredibly rare, and unable to get anymore.
“I just…I mean…Why?? Why would you do this??”
“They’re my toys.” Levi replied with a pout. Sitting up. “I can do what I want with them. What’s the point in having neat toys if you aren’t going to play with them??”
He did have a point there. But adult-Levi was going to be so mad!
“Do you want to play with me?” The demon asked with a hopeful expression. “You can even be blue Ruri-chan.” The limited edition, color swap Ruri-chan from 1999. He was gonna blow a gasket!
“Yeah. Ok.” But then again, when were you ever going to be able to touch them again.
As expected, Levi totally lost it when he came to his senses. Of course, there was no one to blame but himself, in the end, so he just had to be upset and mope alone. Thankfully, none of them were broken or beyond just out of their originally packaging. He bought them all clear showcase boxes for his ‘ruined’ figurines. Some of them he could rebuy to replace; which seemed to make him happy to have two.
Satan
It had been hours since the affects of the book had taken ahold of Satan. You were starting to wonder if they would ever wear off.
Lucifer had left in search of another book, one that might help speed the process along, and left his younger brother in your care. Of course you were happy to help, but you were getting nervous you would never see the old Satan again.
“[Y/N]-chan?” You look up from your phone, waiting for Lucifer to text you back, to see the blonde demon looking timidly at you from around the corner. 
“What is it Satan?”
“Would you….read to me?” His hands holding out the small children’s book he had some how found in the piles of books covering his room.
You smile softly at him. Your heart warmed by his request. “Of course,” you tell him, and the demon scampered over to sit on the bed beside you. His long legs and body tucked neatly into you as he waited for you to tell him the story of a little lost chicken and it’s journey back home. “[Y/N] tells the best stories!”
After 3 stories, he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, Satan was back to normal. He doesn’t answer your questions on where the children’s books had come from, but you spot the red & gold spines on his book shelves sometimes.
Asmo
There was no denying that Asmo was fascinated by art and all things beautiful. He went on and on about it any chance he got. So you shouldn’t have really been surprised when his toddlerfied self just wanted to draw all day.
“Look, look [Y/N]-chan! I finished another one!”
“That’s great Asmo.” You praise. Just like you had done with all the other ones he had handed to you. “Wow! This is really great! Is that a….chicken?”
“No, silly! That’s the white horse for our carriage when we get married!” The demon beamed, then shuffled over on his knees to instruct you on his picture properly. “That’s you, and that’s me. That’s the princess carriage that’s going to ride us off into the sunset. That’s Solomon and Simeon throwing flowers at us. That’s my brothers crying because I got to marry [Y/N]-chan and they didn’t.”
“You certainly seem to have all the parts here.” You praise. Giggling at his enthusiasm and picture.
“I want to have a perfect picture of when we get married. Because I love [Y/N]-chan! And we’re gonna get married and live happily ever after.” He replied, with certainty, with a smile.
“Well, I’ll be glad for that. Why don’t you draw me our perfect house for after we get married?” Asmo scampered off and did just that.
When Asmo came to, and back to his normal self, he took all the pictures he had drawn and framed them. Forcing his brothers and Solomon to take a tour of his mini-art gallery. The piece ‘Marriage of Two Bonded Souls’ was met with some controversy.
Beel
Beel, in his younger days, seemed to have boundless energy. Or you at least had to assume he did, because ever since he had read that stupid book he had been running around.
Lucifer had told you to take him outside. Irritated at hearing his large feet clump around the house, but trying not to show it since it wasn’t his fault. He even let you both take Cerberus outside to help run Beel out. It would be good for the pup too. Get some exercise, he said.
That had been sometime ago, and it seemed baby-Beel and Cerberus were an even match in energy. They had been running around, chasing each other, and play fighting in the back yard all afternoon. You were tired just watching them.
“Beel! Do you want to come in? I think it’s time for a break.”
Both Beel and Cerberus pop their heads up, in a comical and adorable unison head tilt, before jogging over to you. “Break time means snack time right?!”
You chuckle a little. Somethings never changed. “I brought some apple slices & peanut butter for you, for now. We can get you something bigger when we go inside.”
Beel grinned and sat in the grass with the container. “I like apple slices!”
“You do hn?” You don’t think you’ve seen Beel eat an actual fruit on its own. It was usually attached to, baked in, or covered in something, to get him to eat it.
“Yep! They’re crunchy and sweet. Just like you! Though, I guess you aren’t crunchy. Do you want one of my apple slices [Y/N]?”
You blush a little at Beel’s bright, unwavering expression. How could he look so innocent while still looking like that?
He finished his apple slices, minus one, before asking if he could go play again. You let him, but then all of a sudden he spotted playing with Cerberus and stood straight up. Seeming confused on how he got out here and what was going on. “Did I eat an apple? I haven’t had one since….do you think we have more in the kitchen?”
Belphie
It was honestly hard to tell if Belphie was under the spell of the forbidden book or not. He’d been asleep for most of the time; which was not uncommon for him. Then he would wake up and whine a little about something; again, not uncommon for him. Then he would take another nap.
You had figure out that he was still under it’s spell by the requests he was making when he woke up. Juice boxes. More plushies. His ‘blankie’. Eventually it would run its course though, and Belphie would be back to his own sleepy eyed, grown up self. “[Y/N]?”
You walk over to the bed when the demon called your name. The boy half sitting up, but still tucked under his covers. “What is it Belphie?”
“I can’t sleep.” He stated. Which seemed ridiculous since he had been sleeping most of the day. “I miss Lilli. And Be-be. Can you sleep with me?”
You blink at little at the request. You supposed it made since. Kids often wanted someone to sleep with them, so they didn’t have bad dreams or could keep them safe. Maybe that’s why he had been sleeping so much. Because he hadn’t been sleeping well, just sleep.
“Sure Belphie. I’ll lay down with you.” The demon smiled softly, sleepy, before he scooted over to give you some space to lay next to him.
He slept for a while this last time. Clinging onto you in his sleep, with a soft smile on his face. When he woke up, it seemed he was back to normal. “Gosh [Y/N]. If you wanted to sleep with me, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to trick me with that lame book.”
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daiseukiis · 3 years
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: ̗̀➛ 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐒
𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 ; 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙬𝙤
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─꒱ in which we peak into how life is as the in-law of the fushiguro family after marrying megumi。
─꒱ feat. fushiguro megumi, fushiguro toji & fushiguro tsumiki
─꒱ warnings ; profanity, chaotic hot shit
─꒱ notes ; OMG SHOULD I MAKE A SPECIAL WHERE YOU GUYS SEND IN ASKS ABOUT HOW THE NEIGHBOURS REACT TO THE FUSHIGUROS EYVBIJX HAHAHA
─꒱ episode one | 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐒 | episode three
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꒰꒰ you love your father-in-law, like you really do love toji, but that worm of his needs to be in a fucking cage.
a loud scream comes from the top of your lungs early in the morning, eyelashes blinking to shoo the drowsiness away after it's been awakened by the warm sun rays that lay atop your eyelids. as much as you love waking up in the morning in bed with your husband, you don't get that luxury sometimes.
"y/n?!" hearing the loud footsteps of your husband rushing towards with another scream from your sister-in-law, the both of them slam the door wide open. "what happened?!" toji is the last to appear to the scene, his expression more on the sight of confusion compared to the worried and panicked facials on megumi and tsumiki's face. "what the fuck?"
"get this fucking worm off me!"
꒰꒰ if that worm wasn't adopted by toji it would've been on fucking sight. that shit uglier then sukuna's stock of human girls for his bitch soup.
꒰꒰ after you told megumi what toji had told you when you were left alone with him ( the sex question ), you are no longer allowed to be alone at home with him. megumi made sure that the dogs are around.
꒰꒰ you found out the hard way that toji has some lameass dad jokes.
you and tsumiki decided to order sushi for dinner due to the fact the both of you were too lazy to cook, seeing how you and megumi came back tired from a mission and toji from one as well, you all felt bad having tsumiki cook all on her own so you bought food instead.
"i'd avoid sushi if i were you, it seems fishy." toji says just as you all prepared the table to eat. you and megumi freeze on the spot, the trio of you all turning your heads towards toji who sports a serious face. megumi groans, "don't ever do that again."
"i thought it was pretty good." tsumiki lets out a small giggle, you smiling that toji was now comfortable to even make jokes after everything. megumi turns to counter his sister's opnion, through you all swore you heard a stifled chuckle come from toji.
'he's laughing at his own jokes!'
꒰꒰ the effort is appreciated though.
꒰꒰ sometimes you and tsumiki buy too many stuff at the groceries, you call megumi to summon nue and get his shikigami to carry it for you two.
꒰꒰ toji offered ( jokingly ) to let you guys use his worm as a storage while you went shopping for groceries once, let's just say he got smacked in the face with a pan.
꒰꒰ it's his fault for joking while you were cooking.
꒰꒰ you were used to waking up three in the morning for anything and seeing your husband and father-in-law tying some burglar or assassin up, but no way were the rest of the family used to you doing the work.
"y/n?" megumi comes walking down the stairs with his father, turning on the lights in the dark hour to gain a shred of shine. the two males see in full picture that you had just finished punching someone in the face, the other hand holding them up by the collar as it physically shows that whoever this guy dressed in black had just failed in whatever mission he had in mind.
"who's that?" toji raises a brow, more so on the fact that he is impressed you beat up the intruder without a single sound in the dead of night. the look of displeasure shows you were in no mood, wanting nothing more than what you had walked downstairs for before this piece of shit decided to ruin your night. you throw the man in black on to the floor, scowling.
"all i wanted was a glass of fucking water, not an assassin who can't even use the front door."
꒰꒰ when you and tsumiki make food in the kitchen, expect a knife to go flying at least once.
꒰꒰ you don't know if you should be thankful to have tsumiki as your sister or not, she's unintentionally scary and she's not even trying.
꒰꒰ somehow you always end up walking into an argument between megumi and toji ( usually after leaving the kitchen to get a snack ) but you instantly walk out because the last time you didn't, shit was ugly.
"hey... can we all just calm down?" tsumiki is in between toji and megumi who are constantly throwing insults and such at each other, whatever argument they were having she tries to settle it down without anyone getting injured.
"i can't when this pathetic excuse of a father can't grow the fuck up!" megumi bellows, glaring at the older man who lets out a tsk and a frown. "watch what you're saying, i'll hand down an ass whoopin' on ya."
'this seems interesting.' you sip on your boba after walking out from the kitchen, the bowl of popcorn just beside you as you ate and speculated. it was normal for the father-son duo to have their fights, usually it was fun to watch because it ended up as good entertainment for you. so in result: you have no intention in stopping them.
"no, guys, seriously..." tsumiki pleads, her hands slightly apart to try and force space between them. though her efforts were thrown out the window when in complete sync did they yell right back at tsumiki. "just mind your own business!"
'they punched her!' the boba fell from your hands and the popcorn flew, much like how tsumiki started to fall back towards the couch. it took less than a millisecond for the two to realize what the did, and they knew they were fucked.
꒰꒰ sometimes you still have nightmares about it.
꒰꒰ there are times that toji would be coming home with a woman tailing behind him, and it's somehow always when megumi and tsumiki are out.
"tadamasu." toji greets as he walks in, talking his footwear off and leaving it in front of the door. you pop your head out from the living room into the hallway of the entrance as you greet him on his return, "hokairi."
"who's the bitch?" you notice a woman who had too much make up to show her curstyass in front of you, a click of your tongue echoes through the two meter distance between you and her as you cross your arms. "who's the slut?"
"youー!" her face twists in fury, heels about to click and clack each step to get to you but is instantly stopped by the sound of toji's deep voice. "get out." the girl looks baffled by his words, face contouring into a smile full on uneasiness. "but tojiー"
"i said get out." his voice is much more prominent and demanding, sending chills down her spine as she steps back in caution. you stand here watching as the woman still refused to leave your home, in seconds did toji grab hold of her wrist and threw her out of the house ( much to the woman's displeasure ). you grin from ear to ear, running out to see her limping her way back to her rented car right beside toji. you call her out, the glare she sends your way is priceless as you stand beside your father-in-law with all the glory in the world.
"by the way, i'm his amazing daughter-in-law! and we have decided that a clown lookin' ass like you doesn't deserve the right to fuck a fushiguro!" you wink.
"yeah, yeah. get back inside, y/n. megumi 'n tsumiki 'ill be back home, don't want them nagging that our y/n got into some cat fight again." you hear toji from inside the house, walking away from your figure. you pout your cheeks out, "it's not a cat fight, it's my bad bitch moves!"
"i'll lock you out."
"this is my house!"
꒰꒰ you stopped questioning megumi and toji's cooking skills because the last time you and tsumiki let them cook dinner, they didn't just burn the eggs they were making but also trashed half the kitchen.
꒰꒰ they made an oil fire that time, and no one knows how but toji was able to get the zenin clan to pay for repairs???
꒰꒰ and apparently for the past five months the zenin clan have been paying for repairs and they didn't even know toji was using their money, well until naobito found out and busted your front door on a weekend.
"toji!" you heard the current head of the zenin's clan voice boom through your house, you also watched the white front door fly through the hallway right before your eyes after you have just watered your little cactuses. in seconds you hear the lazy voice of your father-in-law, emerging from the kitchen with a confused tsumiki. "what do you want."
"how dare you use the zenin clan's money on your mistakes!" naobito starts striding towards toji in anger, your eyes glancing over at your now open door to see naoya waving to you. you lift your waterer up in acknowledgment of his existence before snapping at naobito.
"how about your mistake?" you watch naobito grip on to the collar of toji's shirt, the look of fury engraved on his old face as he glares your way. "what?" he says, dropping toji as he complains about
"you broke my fucking door, you wrinkly ass, dusty, decaying ancient artifact. we just installed that three days ago! the zenin clan better keep paying."
꒰꒰ that door never seems to get a break
꒰꒰ the real reason why you and megumi never moved out of the house is because when you two tried, tsumiki and toji invited themselves into your house and said they were living there.
꒰꒰ your father-in-law makes hundreds of millions of yen, you'd think he'd live on his own but instead he lives with his kids.
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fruitcoops · 3 years
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Hi Eve! Could you maybe write something like Sirius having a majorly stressful week and he's been on edge all day and he finally decides to go talk to Heather if only to just let it all out. By the time he comes home he's exhausted but Remus is all ready for him, and he's greeted with the sight of Remus in a nice little heap of blankets and pillows piled up on their sofa with a Disney movie ready to play and all his favourite snacks lined up on the coffee table. And Sirius of course just about dissolves into a puddle of affection and gratitude because Loops 🥰🥰🥰
It's honestly concerning how much fluff I write. Oh, well! This is such a cute idea and I'll never pass up an opportunity to write soft Coops <3 SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!
“So, you’ve started baking?” Heather looked up as Sirius nodded, fidgeting with the hem of his hoodie. It still smelled a little like Remus from the last time he stole it, but not nearly enough to drown him in comfort. “That’s awesome. If you don’t mind, can I ask why you chose that as a hobby?”
“It’s—” Stupid. He bit the words back at the last second; Heather never liked self-deprecation, and they had been working on positive self-talk for…as long as Sirius could remember, really. “Uh, I helped Re’s mom make a pie over the holidays and I just have good memories associated with it, I guess.”
Heather jotted something down, her soft smile never faltering. She was wearing a sweater the same color as her name—it was distilled comfort, and Sirius felt some of the tension release from his back. “You said you do it when you’re stressed, right?”
“Sometimes.”
“Does the rhythm help, or is it something else?”
He stared at his hands, rubbing his thumb over the callus from his favorite spatula that was beginning to form. “I think…” he trailed off and bit his lower lip. Honesty always wins. Why do you like it so much? “The rhythm helps quiet my head down, yeah. And it smells like home. And—and if I do it right, I can’t screw it up.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If I follow the recipe, it works. Every time. I can read the instructions as many times as I need to, and I can focus on that until everything up here—” He gestured vaguely toward his head. “—shuts up for a bit.”
Heather nodded; the room was quiet for a moment while she wrote before she settled into her chair and let out a slow breath. “I’m really happy you started doing this, Sirius.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep. We’ve talked about finding healthy amounts of control and tethers in your daily life, and from what you’ve said, this makes you happy in addition to helping you calm down. What do you do with everything you make?”
He shrugged. “Give it away, mostly. It’s healthier than store-bought stuff, and the guys like it. Re and I can’t eat it all ourselves.”
“How often do you stress bake?”
“Oh, probably three or four times a week.”
Shit, shit, shit. Heather’s eyebrows crept upward. “Oh?”
“…yes.” Can’t take it back now.
“Okay.” She made a quick mark on her clipboard—for the hundredth time, Sirius wished he could snatch it and run. “Interesting. Why are you so stressed?”
“It’s not like that all the time,” he said quickly. “Just over the past couple weeks.”
“What’s been going on?”
“Everything?” he said. It sounded more like a question. Heather made another note. “It’s—well, Jules got the flu two months ago and Re wasn’t sleeping because he was worried, so I got nervous and started staying up later so I’d be tired, but then I got bored and worried about both of them so I texted Hope about her pie recipe—"
“Sirius,” Heather interrupted gently. He closed his mouth and tucked his hands into his sleeves, palms itching. “Deep breaths, then tell me what’s been going on these past couple weeks specifically that was stressing you out.”
He obliged, counting ten before speaking again as his brain stopped feeling like someone poured pop rocks into it. “Right. So, this whole habit thing started two months ago, and we’re getting closer to you-know-what—”
“The playoffs?”
He made a quiet noise of distress and tapped the wood of the chair. “Oui, that. There’s a lot of pressure from last year, and when my friends are stressed, I get stressed, and baking is easy and fun so I just…didn’t stop. A lot of things are happening right now, and this feels like the only one I can control.”
“There you go,” she said with a proud smile. “Thank you.”
“What did I do?”
“You’re being more open and honest with yourself. It’s good to see.” She crossed one leg over the other and leaned slightly forward. “You’re a really, really good captain, Sirius. You are so in-tune with the other people in your life, but you’ve got to remember to step back and do things for yourself sometimes. Right now, baking is your stress relief because you can’t control your friends’ lives or emotional states. Try to find more things like that.”
He stared at her for a moment. “Are you diagnosing me with ‘needs a hobby’?”
“In a sense, yes. You have done an incredible job over the past few months of letting your world revolve around things other than hockey. Branching out to baking was an excellent choice. Now it’s time to find other things that give you similar comfort, okay?”
“Alright.”
“Fantastic. Let’s brainstorm.”
--------------------------------
Sirius dropped his bag next to the shoe rack and immediately leaned back against the door, closing his eyes with a sigh. Therapy was always exhausting, but usually in a good way. Already, he could feel the weight of the last three weeks lifting off his shoulders. “I’m home!” he called.
Remus materialized from the living room and padded over in his fuzzy socks, planting a kiss on each of Sirius’ cheeks. “You look tired. Good or bad?”
“Good,” he assured him. “We worked on finding a hobby.”
“Oh?”
“Apparently, baking every other day isn’t a great long-term coping mechanism.”
Remus kissed him lightly on the lips. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that.”
Sirius pulled back with a frown. “I thought you liked my baking.”
“I do. I also worry about how much space we have in our kitchen, and how much you sleep.” He gave Sirius a squeeze around the waist and patted his hip. “Now c’mere, I have a surprise.”
“What kind of surprise?” Sirius asked warily as he allowed himself to be pulled toward the living room. “Do we have company?”
“Does Hattie count?”
The dog in question barked when they entered the room, though she was buried beneath a mountain of blankets and only her nose and tail stuck out. In the hour and a half Sirius had been gone, the living room had transformed into a massive fort—the couch cushions were propped up around a nest of pillows and blankets, and low amber light fell over everything from the side table lamp. It radiated coziness and warmth; he felt the last bits of his exhaustion settle into contentment. “Wow.”
Remus beamed at him. “Do you like it?”
“I love it.” He cupped his face in his hands and nudged their noses together. “And I love you. So much. I’m going to go rinse off and change, but can we cuddle afterward?”
“What do you think this is for?” Remus teased. “You took my sweatshirt.”
“It’s too big for you anyway.”
“How long until I find it in my laundry pile because it doesn’t smell like me anymore?”
Sirius pretended to think for a moment, though he couldn’t keep his smile down as happiness bubbled through every vein. “Tomorrow.”
“Go take your shower,” Remus laughed, then kissed him once again. “I’ll see if I have anything else that’ll fit you.”
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highqueenofelfhame · 3 years
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I’m not posting a tag list for this part because it’s late and I’m exhausted and wanna get it out for you guys. If it does poorly I’ll go back and tag but right now I’m just very over tag lists. Follow the “#hqoe f&f” tag or “falsehoods & fistfights” or “Hqoe writes” tags to more closely follow my work. You can also follow @highqueenofelfhamewrites and turn on post notifications if you want to be notified of my writing! I’m not doing this to be mean, I’m doing it to save time and frustration when the tagging system fails (as it often does)
Hugest shoutout in the world to @punkassbookjockey26 for being the best beta in the entire world. She helped so much with this update!! Give her a pat on the back.
Part One // Masterlist
Rowaelin // 5681 words
~*~
For the last several hours, the clatter of her clicking keyboard and the flipping of pages had been on a continuous loop. At some point, Aelin had opened Spotify and forgotten to turn on any music, clearly content to keep to her rigorous work pace in near-silence. The door to her office was closed, and no one had stopped by to bother her since she’d arrived. Only a handful of phone calls had disrupted her this morning, which meant she had gotten plenty of work done.
Except that it wasn’t morning at all— it was two in the afternoon, and she couldn’t quite figure out how the hell that had happened. She was still squinting at the time on her computer screen when a firm knock sounded at the door, and she called out, “Yes?”
“Have you eaten today?” At the sound of Rowan’s voice, Aelin’s head whipped toward the door. She was unable to stop the smile that spread wide across her face or stop herself rising from her chair to meet him. Aelin perched against her desk, accepting the brown paper bag he held in his hands. No, she hadn’t eaten, not since her half a bagel and cup of coffee before she arrived at work. She’d left a banana in her car for a snack but hadn’t wanted to run back down for it.
“Barely. I didn’t even realize it was past lunch,” Aelin sighed, looking back up at his face. Rowan was grinning down at her as she tore a bite of croissant off and popped it into her mouth. The man looked criminally good, wearing jeans that hugged his legs in all the right places and a white button-up shirt. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, and her eyes lingered on his tattoo that swirled down to his fingertips.
“Can I kiss you in here?” His question caught her off guard, a laugh bursting from her lips. “Because this whole…” Rowan gestured to her outfit. “It’s really doing it for me.”
“You like librarian Aelin?”
“Yes,” he said, leaning down to press his lips to hers. The get-up he referred to was a pinstriped pencil skirt that hit just above her knees and patent black stiletto heels that had her only a few inches shorter than him. She had a red tank top tucked into the skirt and, at some point, had discarded her white cardigan over the back of her office chair. Her lips matched her shirt in a bright, matte, red lipstick that she’d neglected to touch up throughout the day. Still, when Rowan pulled away, his mouth was tinged with the outline of hers. “I like this a lot. Fuck.”
“For the record, you can kiss me anywhere you want to,” she told him. “Especially in my office, especially when the door is closed.”
“Noted.” Rowan tugged on her high ponytail before sinking into one of the leather armchairs in front of her. Aelin continued to munch on the variety of pastries he’d brought for her while his eyes seemed to be glued to her legs. Aelin wondered if he was thinking about laying her out on this desk and having his way with her here, but she also knew he wouldn’t let that be their first time. No matter how badly she wanted it to be.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Whitethorn?” She asked, nudging his thigh with the toe of her shoe. The way he raked his teeth over his bottom lip before looking up at her told her that, yes, he was thinking what she was thinking. The way he quirked his brow at her also told her that, no, it wasn’t going to happen.
They were kind of dating, in the sense that they had been on a handful of dates. They had shared many heated kisses against the door to her apartment when he dropped her off, but he was being such a godsdamn gentleman about all of it that they hadn’t had sex yet. Aelin would have fucked him in the bathroom of the bar that first night, and they both knew it. But something was holding him back. To be fair, she couldn’t place all of the blame on him. She was holding back as well. Whatever this was between them felt like something that could be extraordinary, and she didn’t want to be the one that fucked it all up because she couldn’t keep it in her pants.
“I have a fight on Saturday, and I was really hoping you would want to come. Obviously, I would give you tickets, plus however many extra you want to bring whoever.”
“Just Aedion, I think.” Her cousin would likely die to be personally invited to one of Rowan Whitethorn’s fights, the same way Aelin knew he’d been having a bit of a mental breakdown when he found Aelin with him at the bar.
“Not your friends’ cup of tea?” He teased with a grin.
“Not even really mine, but you get like, almost naked for these things, yeah?” Rowan’s head tilted back as he laughed, reaching out to catch her fingers between his own. He squeezed them, shaking his head at her. “I’m just saying, any female fans you have are not because they want to watch you fight. I Googled you.”
“Of course you did.”
“And if coming on Saturday,” she paused, fighting the twitch of her lips at the innuendo, “is what gets me to see you sweaty and naked, I will be there.”
“Apparently, you can find that on Google also.” Aelin started to jerk her hand from his, but he laughed again and tugged forcefully enough that she dropped into his lap, his arms settling around her hips.
They didn’t have sex on her desk by the time he left, but he did have a trail of lipstick down his neck and red smudges on his collar.
~*~
There had only been a few times where Aelin had seen Aedion this excited. He was practically jumping out of his skin, trying and failing to keep his wide grin at bay. The whole way there, he’d talked about Rowan’s stats and how likely it was for him to win this fight. Apparently, it was very likely, and according to Aedion, if anyone bet against Rowan in the gambling pools, they were going to lose a lot of money.
This version of Aedion was almost completely opposite the one that had shown up an hour late to the bar a few weeks ago, only to find Aelin perched in his personal hero’s lap.
By the time Aelin spotted a familiar head of golden blonde hair making his way through the crowd, Rowan had stayed true to his promise. He’d bought her not one but two drinks, and she had a very happy buzz flowing through her.
“Aedion!” She hadn’t bothered to get out of Rowan’s lap; she liked the way his hand felt on her thigh, the other twirling a piece of hair around his finger while he talked to the tall, broody one— Lorcan.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay; I made friends! And a fiancé!” Rowan laughed then, sticking his hand out for Aedion to shake.
“I’m the fiancé. Rowan Whitethorn. You must be the cousin she’s been waiting on.”
“I got held up at work. Aedion Ashryver, nice to meet you.” Despite the cool and collected exterior Aedion was giving off, Aelin knew without a doubt that he was dying inside. She spent several nights curled up on his couch while Aedion and his friends watched Rowan’s fights, though she’d never cared enough to pay attention. Usually, she disappeared to his guest room to read a book or snuck out after an acceptable amount of time to hang out with her own friends.
Aelin had heard about Rowan’s victories time and time again. When Aedion showed her different self-defense moves, he would say that Rowan Whitethorn took someone down with the same simple maneuver. To say that he admired Rowan would be an understatement. He damn near idolized him.
“Nice to meet you? That’s what you’re going with?” Aelin asked, mouth dropping open as everything Aedion had ever said about the man beneath her flooded her memory. Aelin looked at Rowan, shaking her head and pointing at her cousin. “All I ever hear about when you have a fight coming up is ‘Rowan Whitethorn this’ and ‘Rowan Whitethorn that.’ Yet now he’s here, and all he says is nice to meet you. Unbelievable.”
“Rowan doesn’t look like someone who particularly cares for fan service. Though if I’m wrong, correct me, and I will rectify that immediately. On my knees even, if he decides he’s interested in men at all.”
Aelin’s lips dipped into a drunk pout as she said, “I saw him first.”
“Technically, I saw you first,” Rowan interjected, a teasing tone in his voice. “And you rejected me.” A wrinkle appeared between her brows as she looked up at Rowan’s handsome face, disliking that she was already being ganged up on.
“I’m sorry— you rejected him?” Aedion sputtered in disbelief. Aelin flicked Rowan’s nose, and just like that, they settled into an easy banter that tugged on Aelin’s heart entirely too much.
Now, though, Aedion seemed to be nearly vibrating out of his skin with excitement. At will-call, they’d learned Rowan had set aside special floor seating just for them. When they walked into the arena, Aelin was pleased to see Rowan’s group of friends from the bar. She’d spent the most time with Fenrys than anyone else, and he welcomed her with a big hug, insisting she sit beside him instead of Lorcan. Aelin was more than happy to oblige, as Lorcan didn’t seem to have a taste for her. He didn’t even bother saying hello.
They settled into their seats, Aelin sitting between Fenrys and Aedion, both of whom had skipped the pleasantries and moved right into a conversation about the upcoming fight. Aelin leaned back into her chair and took in the surroundings. There were bits and pieces she remembered from her time barely watching matches with Aedion, but it was still different than what she expected. There was a large octagonal ring in the center of the room surrounded by black fencing that had to be about six feet tall. She wondered briefly if the fence was to keep people out or to keep the fighters in.
People were milling about, but Aelin realized that the arena itself was three levels high, and seats were piled around the room from floor to ceiling. There had to be thousands of them, and from the look of the crowds filing in, there wasn’t going to be an empty spot in the house. She hadn’t realized that MMA had such a following.
After about twenty minutes, the lights dimmed and the booming voice of the announcer filled the arena. People cheered wildly as the introductions for the fight were made and the sponsors were thanked. And finally, Aeling knew it was time. The announcer over-dramaticized the entrance for the first fighter and Aelin watched as a lean-muscled man walked up to the ring. He entered through a gate on the side, and people cheered as he made his rounds. Aelin sat on the edge of her seat for the announcer to start his next introduction, ready to see Rowan walking through the tunnel, when a different name was announced and a different man came strolling out. The confusion must have been all over her face when she looked at Aedion because he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
“Rowan is the main event,” he said. “Which means there are a few fights before his.”
“Seriously? You mean I have to wait?” Aedion nodded and her scowl deepened. “How long?”
“Looking at the schedule, Rowan’s fight is slated to start in about two hours.”
“Two hours?! I have to wait two hours!?”
“Come on, Ace. It won’t be that bad. Just try to enjoy it.” Aedion turned away and was immediately drawn into the fight that had begun in the ring just a few feet in front of her. Aelin pouted, remembering all the reasons why she never stuck around to watch these matches with Aedion previously.
“All I wanted was to see Rowan sweaty and half-naked. I literally don’t care about anyone else,” she grumbled, mostly to herself. Beside her, Fenrys chuckled and threw his arm around the back of her seat as she settled back. Aelin frowned down at her phone, opening Snapchat to get a quick photo of her expression, which she promptly sent to Rowan.
It took him a good ten minutes to reply back to her, and it seemed he knew why she was pouting because the text across his photo simply said be patient.
After that, she didn’t want to bother him, and whatever pre-match rituals he may have, so she settled for scrolling through various social media apps to bide her time. When she found herself restless, she gave in and opened her book app to continue reading a romance novel she’d started the day before. The male love interest may have been a boxer and may have been incredibly sexy, and she may have downloaded it after searching for fighting-related books.
She had just reached a particularly steamy part of the book when she felt Aedion nudge her arm. Godsdamn him, the leading male was just about to give the girl the orgasm of her life when he’d interrupted. Aelin scowled up at her cousin, but the expression morphed into one of incredulity and excitement when she heard Rowan’s name announced, and he walked out into the arena.
Aelin immediately perked up in her seat, sliding her phone between her thigh and the chair. Rowan strolled out like a king surveying his kingdom, and the cheers were deafening. He wore absolutely nothing but a pair of forest green athletic shorts that left little to the imagination and some sort of fist guards over his hands. A wicked grin formed on his lips as he jogged up to the ring and hoisted himself up over the side with practiced ease. There was a very dramatic introduction, one that had the entire crowd screaming and getting to their feet. Aelin couldn’t help but join them, giving a standing ovation to the man she’d spent so many stolen hours with lately. Beside her, Aedion was absolutely losing it. It only made her smile more.
Even as the arena quieted while the referee explained the rules, nobody returned to their seats. Everyone stayed on their feet, and Aelin could understand why. Once the fight started and the hits and kicks started to get thrown around, she found herself filled with a restless energy that she couldn’t push down. Every time his opponent’s fist swung toward him, her heart began to beat frantically in her chest.
But Rowan ducked and dipped out of reach almost every time. The way the muscles of his arms and legs rippled every time he took a swing at the other man, Cairn, her mouth went dry. She hadn’t walked into the arena tonight expecting to find anything about the fight beautiful, but it was. The way that Rowan’s body moved was like watching a dance unfold before her. Every swing of his arm or swift kick of his leg sending her heart racing just like it had when she’d watched ballets growing up. It felt like such a bizarre comparison to make, but Rowan Whitethorn’s body was nothing short of a work of art.
But there was also a ferocity in it. Where ballet was soft and demure, Rowan was a force of nature. His face was hewn from stone, each strike with his hands or legs precise and controlled, but with an element of chaos surrounding it. He unleashed himself on Cairn, throwing punches and kicks swiftly, so quick that Aelin could not keep up with where the next one was going to land. With brutal efficiency, Rowan managed to get past Cairn’s guard to deliver several painful-looking blows in quick succession that had the crowd collectively wincing. It seemed that Aedion’s idolization hadn’t been misplaced.
Rowan breathed heavily, sweat dripping down every inch of his torso. His abdominals flexed with every exhale, showing off every hard line and sharp curve. The tattoo that swirled down his left side glistened under the bright lights of the arena. He looked like a god, and Aelin discovered that she found it quite difficult to keep her mind from falling off into the gutter when he looked like that.
When he made the final blow, a hit to Cairn’s face that had him unconscious before he even hit the floor, Aelin was surprised by how wholly turned on she was. He dominated the fight and looked damn good while doing it. Rowan was announced as the winner, fierce triumph written all over his face as the crowd completely lost their minds. Pride swelled in her stomach, and she couldn’t help her wide smile as she cheered along with the thousands of people in the arena. Even though it was televised, it felt special when he made eye contact with her and grinned before exiting the ring and heading her way.
Of course, he was intercepted about a dozen different times by dozens of different people offering their congratulations. When he finally got to her, he dipped down and hugged her tightly to his chest, pulling her feet off the ground. She could feel the heat of his body through the thin layers of her clothing, scorching her skin. The smell of him, a musky scent of sweat and the pine body wash she had come to associate with him assaulted her nose and she breathed him in deep. She felt the want ratcheting up in the most delicious way and knew that she would no longer be content with a night of only being pressed against her apartment door. Their kisses, no matter how desperate they had been, wouldn’t be enough to sate the need she felt for him. She needed all of him, and she needed him as raw and unrestrained as he had been during that fight. He pressed a kiss to her cheek as her feet met the floor, and he stepped back.
“Sorry, I’m sweaty.”
“You were amazing.” Amazing didn’t quite cover it, but it was the only word she could think of that came anywhere close.
“Does that mean you’ll come out with me tonight? To celebrate?” She wanted to say yes immediately. But with him in front of her, covered in sweat and looking like the only thing she wanted her mouth to touch for the foreseeable future, Aelin shook her head as her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. The disappointment began to cloud his handsome face, but she shook her head faster as though it would dispel his negative thoughts.
“I was kind of hoping I could steal you away. Celebrate with you alone.” Her voice was low and sultry, and she almost laughed because she could see him calculating just what that meant. The two of them. A celebration. Entirely alone, with no one else around.
“I— yeah. Yes. We can— yes. I have to wrap up here and then we can go to my place?” At all of his stuttering, she couldn’t help the bright laughter that bubbled out of her as the usually confident man in front of her stumbled a bit. His attention was drawn away temporarily when Aedion clapped Rowan on the shoulder and began to spew his admiration and congratulations. Rowan took it with grace, thanking him for coming while trying to keep his eyes off Aelin’s face. The way she bit her lip clearly wasn’t helping because his eyes kept dropping down to her mouth.
When a member of his team told him he needed to hurry— he had a short press conference post-fight and still wanted to shower before— Rowan dropped a chaste kiss to her lips and headed back to the locker room.
Aelin waited not-so-patiently, standing on the outside of Rowan’s group of friends in the parking lot while they talked. Aedion fit right in, pointing out the highlights of the fight with renewed vigor. He still seemed to be riding the adrenaline high from watching Rowan fight , and Aelin was sure he would implement something of what they saw into her self defense training.
When Rowan finally came out, they all cheered and shoved him around their little circle in celebration. He was grinning from ear to ear as he reached for Aelin and pulled her into his side, dropping a kiss to her hair. It was impossible to stop the tug she felt in her stomach, something between excitement and nerves. Everything inside seemed to be tied up in delicious knots as she leaned into him, enveloped by the scent of his body wash, the smell of pine equal parts comforting and arousing. “Where are we going tonight?” Fenrys drawled, throwing his arm around Vaughan. The quiet, dark-haired man tried to shrug out of it, but it only ended with him in a headlock.
“I will actually be stealing him away,” Aelin said before Rowan could even get a word in. Rowan’s hold on her shoulder tightened as he squeezed, and she squeezed him back where she had her arm around his waist, secretly thrilled that he was as on board with this plan as she was. His friends groaned in protest but Aelin and Rowan laughed. Lorcan looked particularly displaced about the revelation and was the first to step backward out of the circle and bid farewell. It didn’t take long for the others to follow and for Aelin to lace her fingers through Rowan’s and tug him toward his car.
While their pace could be described as leisurely, Aelin felt anything but. Now alone, she felt that want from earlier return with a vengeance. Rowan squeezed her hand, and her mind immediately wandered to those strong hands touching elsewhere, all over. A quick glance up at him left her reeling when she caught his gaze on her, and swore she saw every dirty thought that crossed his mind. It excited her, knowing that despite his cool, calm exterior wrapped around all of that cockiness, Rowan Whitethorn was just as affected as she was by what was to come.
When they arrived at his car, a sleek, black sports car that was perfectly him, Rowan opened the passenger door for her, ushering her in. Aelin turned her head towards him, and under the parking lot lights, she could see where Rowan had taken a bit of a beating.
Ducking inside the car, Aelin turned to look at Rowan, her thumb coming to brush over a bruise that was forming on his cheek. It was already a blue-purple color, indicating that it would only look worse over the next few days. Luckily he hadn’t taken too many hits, so this seemed to be the worst of his injuries. There was one other place near his temple that had drawn a little bit of blood but it was already on the mend, cleaned by the medics backstage.
“I’m okay,” he reassured her, his hand coming over to rest on her thigh. Aelin pulled hers away, startled by the softness in his voice. Her eyes searched Rowan’s for the lie that he was more hurt than he let on, but she saw nothing. She supposed it should have comforted her that Rowan knew what his limits were, but still, it seemed crazy that this man before her was the same one that had attacked Cairn in the ring and ended the fight in the first round.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, her voice echoing the softness of his own.
“You just saw me get pummeled a few times and you’re worried about hurting me?” His voice dripped with disbelief, remnants of a laugh bubbling out. Aelin shrugged, cheeks stained a rosy blush.
“I don’t want to accidentally push on places that hurt.”
“I can assure you that anything you inflict upon me will be the sweetest kind of pain,” he promised, lacing his fingers with hers and bringing them to his mouth to press a kiss to her knuckles as he started the car and drove out of the dimly lit parking lot. Those knots in her stomach unspooled themselves into liquid heat as her bottom lip slipped between her teeth. “Don’t do that.”
His voice was rough with want, and it scraped over her, leaving small goosebumps on her skin. She shivered in anticipation, and ached to hear more in that deep, rumbling timbre. Reaching out a hand, she coyly ran her fingers slowly, softly up the taut skin of his arm. “Do what?”
“Bite your lip like that when I can’t kiss you.”
“If you drove faster, you would be able to kiss me,” Aelin teased, leaning over the center console to press a lingering kiss to his shoulder. Rowan’s knuckles turned white where he gripped the steering wheel, glancing over at her as the car rolled to a stop at a red light. Soaking up the opportunity they’d graciously been given by the gods, he deftly captured her chin and crushed his lips against hers, kissing her in a way that stoked the smoldering want inside her into an inferno. She felt the sinful slide of his tongue brushing against hers, of his teeth tugging over her bottom lip like he wanted to take a bite out of her. Aelin hoped that he would.
When he pulled away, Aelin’s eyes stayed closed, her lips stayed parted. A shaky breath tumbled from them, filling the tense silence in the car. It took everything in her to sit back in her seat and let him drive. If she were to do what she truly wanted to do, she would have him pull over and climb with him into the backseat, his apartment and privacy be damned.
Aelin wasn’t so sure that Rowan would stop her if she tried to coax him into it. How they had managed to go this long without tearing each other’s clothes off was a mystery to her. As she looked over at him, her eyes lingered on those strong hands gripping the steering wheel, hands that she wanted gripping her in the same way. She desperately wanted to have his fingerprints bruised into her thighs, to see the imprints of his teeth all over her chest. The idea of his back being covered with the marks of her nails only fed that growing fire within her.
The drive seemed to take an eternity, consisting of stolen kisses at stop signs and longing looks. It was hard to keep her hands to herself, and that seemed to be the case for Rowan, too. By the time they reached his apartment, his hand had drifted so high up her thigh that it was burning a hole straight through her jeans.
Rowan held her hand loosely while they walked inside the building and to the elevator. As soon as the metal doors slid shut, however, he was tugging her toward him and pressing her back against the wall. His hands slid from her hands to her waist, dropping down to her thighs to lift her up on the railing. Aelin couldn’t help the moan that she breathed into his mouth, her fingers twining into his hair while he tugged at her lip.
When the elevator dinged on his floor, Rowan was dragging hot kisses down her throat. It seemed to be too much for him because he had to take a moment before he pulled away. Rowan’s mouth stayed against her neck while he caught his breath causing goosebumps to rise all over her skin. The doors were beginning to close again when he finally pulled away and shoved his hand out to stop them.
Aelin laughed then, sliding down from the railing and tugging him down the hall toward his apartment. At the door Rowan fumbled with his keys, pressing kisses to the side of her neck as the lock tumbled and gained them entrance.
Any restraint he had left seemed to dissipate as soon as the door was shut and locked. Once again her feet left the floor as he carried her to his room and laid her down on his bed. Their kisses were hungry, starving as he lifted her shirt and tossed it onto the floor. His hands made quick work of the rest of her clothing, and before long they were just skin on skin, his mouth drifting lower and lower down her body.
All of it was pure ecstasy, almost too much for her to handle. It didn’t take long before she fractured beneath his mouth, her nails digging into his back, scratching desperately over his skin as he moved back up her torso to press his lips against hers.
When he pulled back to look at her, something had shifted. Gone were the frantic kisses, replaced by deeper ones that stole her breath from her lungs. An impossible feeling was tugging at her heart as their bodies moved together beneath the sheets. This time when she fell over the edge, Rowan went with her. Their bodies were so tangled it was hard for her to think clearly enough about where he started and she ended. Their gasping moans were a harmony she wouldn’t soon forget as he collapsed on top of her.
Aelin’s heel pushed down the strong muscles of his thigh, his calves, silently begging him not to move. His lips ignited sparks over her collarbones as he settled atop her while her fingers ran softly up and down his sides.
Eventually Rowan rolled off of her, and she would have frowned had he not tugged her into his side a heartbeat later. Aelin draped her leg over his waist and nuzzled her face against his chest, pressing a single kiss over his heart.
The last thing she remembered was the feeling of his hands in her hair and his low humming of a forgotten melody as she drifted off into a blissful sleep.
~*~
Soft kisses were being dropped over her bare back, leaving a trail up and down her spine. Aelin hummed in approval as a grin spread across her face. Her eyes were still closed, ignoring the rays of sunshine that were likely illuminating her face, when Rowan pressed a kiss to her cheek and the corner of her mouth.
“Good morning,” she said hoarsely, her lack of voice another reminder of everything that had transpired last night. She had woken Rowan a handful of hours after their first time, rolling on top of him and placing teasing kisses over his neck and chest until his calloused hands guided her into position. That time, Aelin had been control, her hands gripping the headboard through wave after wave of pleasure. There was an ache between her legs that made her want to beg Rowan to touch her despite how exhausted she was.
“Hi, baby.”
Aelin’s smile widened as she rolled onto his back and looped her arms loosely around his neck. Rowan kissed her properly then, long and slow until she was sure they were going to go for a third round in under twelve hours.
“So beautiful,” he murmured, fingers brushing her hair back from her face. Aelin wanted to snort in response, knowing last nights makeup was likely smeared around her eyes and she reeked of sex and sweat. But there was such reverence in his tone that she couldn’t bring herself to disagree, his green eyes bright in the morning sun as they traced over every feature of her face. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Her hand moved from his neck to the side of his face, thumb brushing lightly over the bruise that marred his skin.
“You saw me fight. You watched me beat the hell out of someone and you didn’t turn and run. You didn’t balk. You still wanted me.”
Aelin was positive the confusion was written all over her face from the downturn of her lips to her furrowed brow, but still she said, “Has that been a problem before?”
“Yes.” Rowan pressed a series of kisses over her face starting at her temple and ending at her jaw.
“It’s not a problem for me,” she promised, voice barely a whisper against his cheek. Rowan was quiet for a moment, turning his face to look at her. “You’re a fighter. That’s what you are. I wouldn’t want you to be anything but what you are.”
A mix of emotions fluttered across his face, whatever he felt being a catalyst for kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, nose, and finally her lips. When he pulled back, he looked hesitant and unsure. It was the first time Aelin had ever seen him like that and it felt raw. Like he was exposing a part of himself he seldom did. She was ready to ask him what was going on when he kissed her so thoroughly she’d nearly forgotten the conversation at hand.
“What if I wanted to be something else?” Rowan gazed down at her, teeth grazing over his bottom lip. Again, she swore she saw uncertainty on his face and in his tone as the question rushed out in a single breath.
“Like what?”
“Like your boyfriend.”
She couldn’t help the joyful laughter that bubbled up and out like champagne. Rowan grinned too, so widely that his dimples were deep in his cheeks. Her thumbs ran over them as she kissed him, both of their smiles making it almost difficult. It was too cute, the way he’d seemed almost nervous and bashful in his delivery. It felt like high school all over again in the most innocent way.
“You can be that, too.”
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officerjennie · 3 years
Text
Title: As the Clouds Whisp Overhead
Summary: Jaskier gets off on Geralt's soft thighs and tummy. Literally. Geralt relaxes back and lets him, enjoying the show. Weight gain spoken of positively. Pairing: Geraskier. WC: 3.5K+
CW: smut, brief mention of weight loss due to difficult times (past)
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It had been a rather easy spring, all things considered.
Geralt lazed in the field, not really watching the clouds that drifted overhead, his eyes closed and breaths deepening into an almost meditative state. The smell of wine and cheese was almost drowned out by the wildflowers about them but it was still there, as was the scent of apples, salt, the road, and the lingering oils that Jaskier had insisted on wearing ever since he’d discovered Geralt’s nose was sensitive to the others that he used to reek of.
Said bard was currently shuffling their lunch about, putting most of it away for later, humming one of his newest tunes as he folded back up the blanket he’d apparently bought for just this occasion. Though they’d eaten plenty of meals without it or the basket he’d purchased at the market as well, Jaskier had insisted that a picnic was a special affair and deserved the right accessories to make it just right.
Geralt had just let him do as he wished, not worried about his friend’s coin purse - and not worried about his own, for once. Usually the end of winter spelled a time of heavy work for him but he’d lucked out on a couple of easy and well paying jobs right off the bat - so he thought a bit of down time wouldn’t be the end of the world for them.
The song on Jaskier’s lips was one he hadn’t quite finished yet. Geralt had already heard several different renditions of the first verse alone, lyrics tweaked here and there, the exact lilt of his voice changing back and forth as he tried to settle on what he believed would sound the best. And despite his occasional grumbling over the repetition it was a rather relaxing tune, one he didn’t mind listening to.
Beyond that, there was a sort of...intimacy that came with being trusted with Jaskier’s unfinished works. The knowledge that Jaskier wasn’t always his best around him, was able to fuck around with a song and riddle the air with curses of “bollocks” and “cock” while he tried and failed and tried again to make it just right. That Geralt could see him like this and not the perfected performance that he was to the rest of the world, the mask that was firmly in place right up until the moment he didn’t want it to be.
And that moment just so happened to frequently involve witchers, whether directly or indirectly. How many times had he gone feral on someone for just saying the wrong thing about one of Geralt’s colleagues? Just early that spring he’d jumped someone for spitting on the ground over Lambert’s name, and Jaskier hadn’t even met him yet.
Something like pride welled up in his chest at the thought, though it was a quiet thing. Jaskier should be more careful, he shouldn’t be fighting their fights - but it meant the world to him all the same that he wanted to. Especially for his brothers.
“You know, I’ve never been one for cheese and crackers as anything more than a snack, but that was simply delightful.” Jaskier’s voice came closer as he talked, and the flowers and grass were disturbed next to him as the bard flopped over at his side, quickly snuggling in when Geralt moved his arm to make room for him. “We’ll have to go back and ask again what the name of that cheese was. Never have I ever given so much thought to pairing and wines and all that stuff - my youngest sister was always more interested in that sort of thing, and really if I heard her say one more time that my palette wasn’t refined enough I might have had to hide frogs in her bed again.”
Jaskier settled in nicely at his side, slotting in like they were made for each other, fit perfectly together. He chattered away and Geralt mostly tuned him out, something Jaskier loved to fake hurt over though they both knew it was just that: fake. Over the years Geralt had perfected hearing what he needed to hear and simply listened to the tune of Jaskier’s voice, the song of his highs and lows, his sighs and breaths and every heartbeat becoming the song that was his bard.
Meditation came easier around Jaskier than it did anyone else. Even around his own family it was a struggle. Lambert was a little shit at the best of times and Eskel simply existed larger than he wanted to, and Geralt was always tuned into his brothers, paying attention to them because he knew just how limited theri time was together. But with Jaskier, he could rest, relax, simply let himself be like he’d never experienced with anyone else.
His arm rested at Jaskier’s back, hand loose on his side, barely hanging on and feeling his bard breath in and out as he spoke. Jaskier’s fingers tapped a rhythm where they were rested on his chest, though eventually they moved, sliding down to rest against his stomach and making Geralt hmm at the pleasant warmth they brought.
They’d stripped earlier to bathe in the nearby river and had mostly dressed, though Jaskier had forwent his doublet as Geralt had his armor. It was nice, being out in the wild, away from the faux sense of safety that inn rooms allowed them and yet still able to be this content without his armor on. Just their loose clothing, not enough to be considered decent in any sort of societal setting, simply existing and being and just…
Geralt was content, and he didn’t consider that a bad thing. Not in the slightest.
A breeze rustled the field about them, loose silver hair tickling his face though Geralt didn’t have the bother in him to brush it out of the way or tuck it behind his ear. The air smelled nice for once, no clogging dust on the wind, no rotting anything nearby nor farms to make his nose want to clog itself. Since the summer was still a ways off the sun wasn’t too harsh on his skin, his chemise enough to keep any possible chill away though it was warm enough in this part of the country, everything pleasant and not too much.
There was also a lovely set of fingers that had wormed their way under his chemise. Jaskier hadn’t bothered to push it up, had just scooted his hand underneath, and with very gentle circles had begun to rub patterns into the soft flesh there. It was enough to make Geralt melt beneath him, a soft hmm on his lips accompanied by a sigh as he felt his every muscle relax at the touch. The winter had been extra good to him, Eskel having returned with more coin than expected from his path which had meant more meat for their stews, and the lot of them had eaten extra well.
Jaskier had never shied away from letting him know exactly how much he appreciated it when he ate well. There had been a few times on their own path that food had been scarce, and despite witchers having an accelerated metabolism Geralt had always done his best to see after his bard first and foremost - so when times were tough his body showed it, and Jaskier had played his fingers raw when he saw the worst of it just to make sure the both of them could eat their fill.
But there had been no such worries or struggles yet this year, what with the good winter and the well paying contracts that had followed. Geralt’s stomach was full and soft, protecting the muscles and other important organs underneath, and the rest of him was showing the spoiling as well. His thighs had grown softer, somewhat straining against the material of his pants but it wasn’t quite uncomfortable yet - he knew well enough to keep his clothes somewhat baggy, to make room for the waxing and waning that came with the path. His chest, too, had grown softer, encouraging Jaskier to nuzzle into it at any given opportunity.
Those calloused fingers found some of the scars that ran across his belly, caressing them gently. Some stretch marks veined their way across his skin as well, hidden at the moment by his chemise but Jaskier felt his way across them all the same, giving off a gentle sigh as he snuggled in closer and traced his love wherever he could reach.
Geralt could not have thought of a more peaceful way to spend the afternoon. The clouds blurred as his eyes slid closed at the tender affection, his breaths deepening. Deep breaths in through his nose, smelling the wildflowers. A rabbit was nearby, chomping as quietly as it could on some grass, its hops barely whispers as it braved further away from its burrow. Geralt could hear the gentle chuffing of its babies hidden away, the call of a hawk overhead that sent the rabbit scurrying. The scent of budding trees, of a little mouse that had found some seeds to munch. The scent of his bard, his oils and shampoo and the hint of river on the both of them, and the growing scent of-
A snort brought them both a bit out of the peace, and Geralt cracked his eyes just enough to smirk down at the startled confusion growing on his bard’s face.
“Really?”
Those pretty pink lips pouted up at him as if Jaskier wasn’t fully aware of what was growing in his pants. Geralt made a show of raising one of his eyebrows, raking his gaze down, down his bard, straight to stare at his crotch just long enough to get his point across before flicking his eyes right back up.
It took a few seconds for his bard to catch up, Geralt watching the thoughts clear as day on Jaskier’s face, until red spread pretty across his cheeks and darkened the speckle of freckles there. Jaskier sputtered a bit and Geralt had to bite back a wider grin, starts to words that had no finish dropping between them before Jaskier cut himself off with a whine, ducking in to nuzzle into his chest and push the rest of his body closer.
“That’s not fair, Geralt - what, can you, I don’t know, smell it or something?”
Geralt didn’t respond to that, just reached up to tug a stray curl back behind Jaskier’s ear. His bard peeked up at him with another adorable pout jutting out his lower lip, his nose scrunched up as he waited for his ‘ridiculous suggestion’ to be shot down.
But it wasn’t shot down. And Jaskier frowned, and then he squeaked, climbing on top of Geralt to straddle him and poke a very firm finger straight into the chest he’d just been nuzzling.
“You and your- your entirely unfair witcher ways! Are you telling me you could tell all this time? Every time?” Geralt didn’t stop his grin this time and the indignation just grew, hand gestures growing wider. “That is- Geralt, how am I suppose to walk through life knowing you can smell my erection? How am I ever supposed to get up of a morning knowing my every waking naughty thought will be given away? Which yes is entirely too often but you’re entirely not fair, have you looked in a mirror in the past decade? Cruelty, unfair, entirely too sexy for your own good, for anyone’s own good-”
Jaskier went on like that, ranting like only he could, while Geralt eventually tuned his words out just to listen to the lilt of his voice. And the bard made a rather pretty picture himself, straddling him like that. His chemise was loose, showing off curls of dark hair that Geralt could run his fingers through for an eternity and never be bored of it. Broad tanned shoulders, a soft stomach barely hidden underneath his clothes, his pants a wonderful shade of green that fit in with the waking world around them.
A very pretty picture, but a noisy one at the moment. Geralt sighed but Jaskier went on, wildly flourishing his hands as if it was the end of the world that Geralt could smell his arousal. An arousal that had notably not died down, still pressing against the fabric of his pants, catching Geralt’s eyes and making him tilt his head in that way that Jaskier insisted was ‘adorable’ - though Geralt didn’t think he was capable of such a thing.
His thigh twitched with a rather mischievous thought, and as Geralt’s gaze traveled back up to Jaskier’s face, cheeks still stained pink from his rather unnecessary embarrassment, he thought there perhaps that voice would do better singing for him than ranting about his dramatics.
He’d been called an asshole before, and Geralt had never disagreed with the label. But he was lucky enough that Jaskier for the most part never minded - and he greatly doubted Jaskier would mind his next movement.
As Jaskier waved one of his delicate looking wrists in the air, dandelion seeds drifting on the wind about them, Geralt shifted beneath him until he had room to lift up one of his thighs. Before Jaskier could catch his movement it pressed up into him, cutting his bard off with a gasp, his eyes fluttering as Geralt’s smile showed teeth.
“That’s-” Jaskier pressed right down onto his thigh, his hands coming down to support him, and he didn’t waste any time in making it more enjoyable for himself. Shifting down, one hand placed on Geralt’s chest to support him, Jaskier straddled his thigh and slowly ground down onto it. A pretty moan escaped his lips and his tongue darted out as if to catch it.
It was a lovely show, watching as Jaskier pressed down onto him, sought out his own pleasure by rubbing against his thick thigh. Geralt pillowed his head on his arms and just watched, not moving his leg, letting Jaskier set his own pace and feeling pride bubble up in his chest at how pretty he sung for him. On a particularly rough grind Jaskier whimpered and rutted against him faster, making Geralt’s own cock twitch - but he wasn’t really in the mood for pleasure, so he ignored it in favor of the show.
Though he made for a beautiful picture, back lit by the sun and clouds, a pretty blue above that couldn’t quite beat the beautiful blue of his eyes, Jaskier wasn’t purposely looking good for a show. He didn’t touch his own skin like he did when he rode Geralt, didn’t skim his hands down his chest and stomach to show it off. Didn’t bite his lip or run and tangle his fingers into his curls. The emotions that crossed his face were not stressed or controlled, his noises slipped out without thought, his body moving without any purpose beyond pleasuring himself - and it made it a moment Geralt wanted to sear into his memory forever. That Jaskier could let go like this for him. That he trusted that Geralt didn’t mind, trusted that Geralt did not judge him for his desires. How human Jaskier allowed himself to be, imperfect and all the more beautiful for it.
“Fuck,” Jaskier cursed on an exhale, his movements already shaking, his cock dripping enough precum that it soaked into the front of his pants. Geralt could almost feel it wetting his own. “Geralt I- fuck you’re gorgeous, so gorgeous, I want to-” his hips stuttered, breath catching on a moan, brown curls caught on the wind and dancing. “Can- can I get off on your stomach? Gods it’d be so soft, feel so good, I- fuck.”
That was something he’d never requested before. Geralt quirked an eyebrow, belying another twitch of his own cock, but he grunted out “If you must.” And he had to bite back a chuckle at how quickly Jaskier’s fingers went for the ties of his pants.
Jaskier’s cock was leaking profusely though that wasn’t anything he didn’t already know. It looked like it was aching from it, hard and red and angry when he fished it out of his pants and smalls, and Jaskier whined as he couldn’t help but stroke himself a few times. His hips bucked with it, a greedy and wanting noise slipping from between his wet lips - but then he was slipping down Geralt’s leg to straddle his hips, and his cock was pushed against the soft skin of his stomach.
It didn’t slide against him very easily. The precum leaking from the tip helped, but Jaskier didn’t seem to care, holding onto his cock and gently rubbing it against him, jaw wide and loose like it was the single most pleasurable act Jaskier had ever experienced. Geralt cocked his head and tore his gaze away from Jaskier to watch his cock rub circles on him, precum dribbling faster and catching in the hair that curled white all over his abdomen.
Honestly, Geralt didn’t quite understand it. Wasn’t entirely sure what had Jaskier’s breath coming so fast, his heart beating so quick at rubbing against his soft stomach. But he didn’t really care. Jaskier’s hips jerked and he fought to keep himself reigned in, to keep his movements steady and slow, and Geralt just watched him and let him. Let him take this pleasure, smelling the arousal coming off of him in waves, listening to the rhythm of his breaths and body and heart. And Geralt memorized every little detail, from the flutter of his long eyelashes to the way his fingers dug into Geralt’s side, nails just at the edge of biting him.
Jaskier whimpered, long and shaking, when he came. It was desperate, his face scrunching up, eyes shut tight as if he was grasping onto the pleasure with all of his might. Geralt reached out to take hold of one of his hands, letting Jaskier clench his fingers as hard as he needed, bringing them up to brush his lips against the knuckles as Jaskier spilled all over his stomach.
His bard almost collapsed onto him, but Geralt moved him before that could happen, bringing him down with a shush at his further whimpers and letting him rest once more in the crook of his arm. And Jaskier came down slow, heartbeat eventually matching the rhythm of his deepening breaths, eyes still scrunched up tight as if he didn’t want to let go of what he’d been feeling.
When Geralt ran his fingers through his curls, they were damp with sweat. He hummed, not minding, just holding him close as he melted against him.
Eventually, Jaskier stretched, letting his arm flop against Geralt’s chest and legs tangle with his once more. He almost made an effort to open his eyes. Almost. Instead he frowned lightly, nuzzling into Geralt and as he moved impossibly closer.
“Want me to return the favor, love?” His words were light things that could have been carried off by the wind if Geralt’s hearing had been even slightly worse.
In truth, Geralt was turned on. How could he not be when Jaskier had ridden his thigh and stomach so beautifully? But he thought it over for a minute, the cool breeze tickling his face with a few stray white hairs, the scent of wildflowers coming back to him as the one of arousal dissipated.
“No,” he said finally, pulling Jaskier closer to kiss the top of his head. Despite the interest his body had shown he found he wasn’t in the mood himself, content enough to let Jaskier have his pleasure and leave it at that.
Jaskier just hummed, not questioning him further, and a small smile tugged at Geralt’s lips knowing there would be no hurt feelings over it. His bard’s fingers eventually went back to lazily tracing patterns into his skin, though he made a bit of a yucky face when they found the sticky mess he’d left of Geralt’s stomach hairs. Still they were both far too content to clean up just yet, not even wasting the energy to tuck Jaskier’s softening cock back away in his pants as they laid there, relaxed, enjoying the non-harsh sun and the clouds that lazed across the sky overhead.
“Coin for your thoughts?” Jaskier whispered into his chest after a time, and Geralt grunted, not even opening his eyes to look down as he responded.
“A bigger food budget.”
A moment later, and Jaskier’s laugh filled the field around them, sharp and uncontained, a laugh that was so far away from the performance he played that it drew a chuckle out of Geralt as well. That they could be themselves around each other, that they could be so carefree and human, was the most joyous thing Geralt had ever found in his long, long life - and that they’d discovered a new way to have fun was exciting, and Geralt was certainly going to take advantage of this new discovery. How could he not, when his reward was a well-pleased bard melting in his arms.
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glimmerglanger · 3 years
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Home (on the range) was SO GOOD. I'm in awe of your writing. If you are taking prompts, I would love a scene of Cody's first rodeo and Ben there as his cheerleader please 🥺
adiduck asked: Snippet prompt for Home (On the Range) before I forget: Any chance of seeing Cody's first competition now that he's going to go back to pro-rodeo?
OHOHO, I want you both to know how much time I spent researching rodeo stuff for this fic, and now SOME OF IT IS COMING OUT. Set around a month after the end of the fic, this is just competition and family times.
~~~~~~~
Ben had attended the bonanza in town before, twice since he settled in the area. It was mostly a fair, complete with rows of games, rides, and food stands serving candied apples, cotton candy, hotdogs, funnel cakes, and anything else under the sun.
He’d even gone to the rodeo events the bonanza centered around, once, watching riders rope calves or guide their horses between barrels or get thrown, over and over, off of a very agitated horse.
It had been exciting, or, at least, the crowd had been excited. Ben hadn’t understood enough about what was going on to follow it clearly, but the energy had swept him along.
He felt far more certain about what was going on when he sank down onto one of the benches around the dirt arena, with Boba on one side of him and Val on the other. The rest of the family spread out around them, taking up spaces on the benches both above and below Ben’s seat, juggling drinks, snacks, and cameras.
Ben had learned more about different events over the course of the previous month. Cody happily explained them over meals, after spending hours training. The events wouldn’t all play out over one night - even in a relatively small event, there were too many competitors - but over the course of a long weekend.
The youth events and barrel riding competitions had been the previous evening. One of Ben’s students had entered the competition and been delighted when Ben knew what she was talking about, gushing over how she’d done and how well she’d placed.
Ben zipped his coat up the rest of the way - the nights were well and truly nippy - and held on to his cup of hot apple cider, watching the stands fill out, letting Boba excitedly chatter against his ear, telling him all about the gates and the way the evening would go and the two events they’d see, if they stayed for the whole evening.
They shared pieces off of the funnel cake Ben had bought before they went up to the stairs, the stands thrumming with excitement once someone finally turned on the loudspeaker and started making announcements.
“This is the calf roping,” Boba said, against his ear, almost vibrating with excitement. “Cody rides Sunny for this one.”
Ben nodded along, though he knew already. He knew, as well, that it was the only event Cody planned to compete in tonight. He didn’t participate in the team roping, which came second, but he’d be in two events the following night.
Boba’s excitement about it was catching, his dark eyes shining and fixed on the enclosure as the first rider got ready to one side. Cody, as Ben understood it, wasn’t first in the line up.
They’d put him near the end of each event. Apparently, word that he was competing had spread around. Ben had heard about it from kids in his classes, over the past month, who had, apparently, heard about it from their parents….
Ben hadn’t realized, really, how big a deal it was, Cody getting back into competition.
He watched riders chase calves around the enclosure, listening to the announcers, smelling sugar and dust. Music played between competitors and numbers flashed up on a lighted board across the field, keeping track of time for each rider and how well they did and--
Ben’s breath caught in his throat when it was - finally - Cody’s turn. He resisted the urge to stand - Boba didn’t - and stared down, looking at Sunny’s familiar markings and the top of Cody’s hat. He was wearing his jeans, the ones that had become Ben’s favorite pair, and a golden checked shirt and--
Sunny sprang into motion before the barrier went down in front of them, reaching it nearly at speed as it dropped, moving fast and sure around the enclosure. Ben had watched them practice and had seen Cody ride so much, even before that. But it looked different, in the middle of a competition.
Boba yelled something loud when Cody tossed the rope, moments later, lariat falling around the calf’s neck. Sunny stopped in his tracks, Cody’s hand doing something complicated by the pommel of the saddle even as he swung off Sunny’s back.
Ben’s breath caught and held in his lungs, burning, as Cody - a shorter rope in his teeth - reached the calf and bodily tossed it down, Sunny slowly edging away from him, rope stretched tight from his saddle to the calf.
Cody’s hands moved too quickly for Ben to see, especially from a distance, but Cody’d shown him the knot before, moving through each twist slowly, so Ben could understand how it worked. Ben had never known how to tie a half-hitch knot before.
He doubted he’d be able to so quickly, or around the legs of an animal thrashing so much, but--
But Cody was already on his feet, hands in the air and moving back to Sunny, swinging onto his back and easing him forward, tension going off the rope leading to the calf. Ben watched the clock run up on the large board, knowing it had to reach six seconds, heart racing, breath still caught--
And it felt like everyone in the stands cheered, when the six seconds passed.
Cody turned on Sunny, shifting in the saddle, raising a hand to lift his hat, a little salute to the crowd. And Ben drew in a breath again, using it to cheer.
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