#i really need some sort of modern au with three of them

[karpachev]

i really love this little band of misfits

Also have this b&w sketch cause i luv it too

#jghdghfh i love them so much 😭😭 #finally got my hands on drawing liltotto #love this kid for some reason #she has *the vibes* i suppose #i really need some sort of modern au with three of them #would be cool #bleach #bleach fanart #bleach tybw #quincy #bazz b #askin nakk le vaar #liltotto lamperd #karpachevart #artists on tumblr #digital art #click for better quality

[jnnul]

ric flair drip

a/n: oh my god. it's finished. i've finally written all of her. i genuinely don't know how to explain the relief i feel right now. it feels strange writing this after writing and healing myself through writing this. i hope that anyone in college who's feeling the way y/n or jaehyun did knows that you can and will grow from it. heartbreak is inevitable and so is growth. quick note: feedback, comments, etc. GREATLY encourage writers! if you felt any sort of way (in a good or bad way!) about this fic, pls leave feedback!

word count: 20k

tags: college au!, frat boy!jaehyun x girlboss!y/n, honestly it just a dissertation about modern love and how people nowadays love each other, there's a lot of soul searching in this one, i poured my heart and soul into this please love her the way i do warnings: mentions of sex, underage drinking, and general college shenanigans! also explicit mentions of oral sex, uhhh foreplay and sex

HONESTLY, NOTHING ABOUT JUNG JAEHYUN IS REMOTELY APPEALING TO YOU. you hate the perfect boy act he puts on, you hate his need to impress everyone and everything, and you really fucking hated his dick.

because if it wasn't for his dick, which you were sure is just as perfect as the rest of his stupid self, you wouldn't be awake at inhumane hours, listening to your friend recount their sexcapades.

"oh my god, and then he did this thing with his tongue and i swear, i'm literally never going to be able to have oral again. he's fucking ruined me. i'm genuinely going to just make every guy i fuck put a jaehyun mask on from now onwards just to recreate it," sia yoo, unfortunately one of your best friends, quips dreamily. she yelps when roseanne park, your roommate and singular other voice of reason, throws a pillow at her.

"you sound like a fucking psycho. as in needs to be checked to a mental facility psycho. as in if i hadn't heard worse when you got with johnny suh, i'd be calling the cops right now psycho," roseanne says and easily ducks when sia winds up to throw the pillow back at her. fatima khan, sia's roommate and mother friend extraordinaire, pouts sympathetically with sia as the two of them turn to you as if you would fall on their side.

"sia, baby, honey, love and light of my life - i'm really sorry but i'm with rosie on this one," you say and sia puts on the most theatrical frown you she possibly could before she cocks her head curiously.

"rosie's got a reason for judging jaehyun since she doesn't even like men all that much. what's your excuse, y/n? you like men, judging by the way you were getting railed to next week by that freshie park seonghwa. you've never gotten dicked down by jaehyun."

you're half-tempted so tell sia that it's not fucking weird that you got with seonghwa, considering the fact that you're only a sophomore yourself but you're even more tempted to remind her that even though you were no stranger to a good time, you never recount your stories.

in fact, the only reason why the other three (well, you suppose rosie would know regardless given that you literally live with her) know about your sex life is because you choose to tell them whenever you felt like it. and usually, it was more than three days after the encounter.

you loved your friends, you really did - and sia was notorious for getting into one night stand rehash sessions at ungodly hours, so this was nothing new - but for some reason, every time jaehyun's name came up in the conversation, your skin would prickle with irritation.

maybe it was the fact that every single person around you seemed to be infatuated with him. or the fact that he was just so effortlessly good at capturing the attention of everyone in the room, no matter where he was.

or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that you knew that if you looked too closely into the deep end, you'd fall right in with no life jacket. and jaehyun was an endless ocean.

+++

maybe you had given jaehyun too much credit, you lament. maybe jung jaehyun's as deep as a fucking kiddie pool. you know you're wrong because you were in the same english literature class and the man had been published because the professor liked his prose so much, she had submitted it to a literary journal.

and they had accepted it.

but as you stare at him across the lecture hall, burning holes into the poor guy's skull, you sure think he's stupid. because there was no way in fresh hell that jung jaehyun was in an introduction to east asia class. as a south korean.

people begin settling into their seats as you mull over the possibility that jaehyun had fucked so much, his brain had fallen out through his dick. from the stories of his more than above average size, it was definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

just as you're send a very judgmental text to fatima, who was supposed to be taking the class with you but had had to switch last minute when one of her major required classes opened up, jaehyun gets out of his seat to stand at the front of the room, next to the professor.

you realize belatedly that the people jaehyun had been so animatedly speaking to were none other than bambam and ten - two people who most definitely were in this class. and of course, they had chosen this class over all the others because oh my god, jung jaehyun is the uta for this class.

in hindsight, it makes sense, given that jaehyun is a east asian studies minor and a stellar fucking student. but it doesn't make the text you were about to send fatima any less humiliating as you realize your attempts to undermine his character were desperately failing. you try to backtrack on your phone, deleting the winding paragraph you were about to send her when your thumb slips, accidentally sending a half written message.

you: jaehyun is fucking

you're sure the statement will be true within the next couple hours (the jung bed at the nct frat never seemed to stay empty for too long - and that was just from orientation week last week) but it felt almost blasphemous that you would send a text so crude to your friend when you insisted that you couldn't stand his guts.

or what lay between them, really.

three gray dots appear on your screen as you half-heartedly listen to your professor drone on about how he went to china, became a changed man, and now taught about the wonders of east asia and its exoticism. his name was paul but the class could refer to him by his 'enlightened name' - lao ma. even jaehyun rolls his eyes behind the professor's back as all of the asian kids in the classroom begin to eye each other warily.

if this class wasn't so easy, you're sure the population would've shrunk to a quarter its size based on the weirdness of the professor on its own. or maybe not, if it meant that people got to stare at jaehyun's gorgeous face for an hour and a half every monday morning.

mommy tima 🤍: honey, i think whatever sia's got going is contagious. mommy tima 🤍: aren't you the one who hates him? mommy tima 🤍: he really lives in your mind rent free, huh.

you scoff under your breath as you type furiously, vaguely registering that you definitely need to check the syllabus for this class later because you have not been listening to a word the professor has said this whole time.

you: first sia's got cooties or a raging std that's what she's got going you: second he's my fucking uta you: as in i am going to be forced to see his face for an entire semester mommy tima 🤍: drop the class then, babe. you: can't this is too good for my gpa & the prof's a freak you: it's a gpa cushion and a circus in one go

you tuck your phone away when you see that jaehyun is coming up the aisle on your side with a packet while the professor is on the other aisle on the other side with the same packet to hand out. jaehyun probably wouldn't care that you had your phone out during lecture (syllabus week was just an excuse for college kids to get drunk during school days anyway) but it was the principle of the thing.

"here you go - oh, it's stuck together," jaehyun says as he stops at where you're sitting. his tongue slips out as he thumbs at the packet to give you one instead of three and suddenly, your treacherous brain takes you back to sia's rambling the night before.

and then he did this thing with his tongue...

you're shaken back to reality when you realize that you're staring at a blank wall, with a pink packet in front of you, and jaehyun has already reached the back of the classroom.

fuck. shit. bitch.

jaehyun had seen you stare at his stupidly handsome face and then some. he was your ta. oh my god, what if he docked points on some test because he thought you were the creepy stalker type.

damn you, sia yoo, you curse in your head.

+++

"damn you, sia yoo!" you yell over the blaring music that's so loud, you can feel the vibrations in your skull. there absolutely no reason you should be caught dead in a frat on the friday of syllabus week but sia had made it her mission to make sure you had a going out rate of at least 80% this school year, given that you were prone to trying to skip out on weekends out last year.

not that you didn't like going out - you actually really liked going out with your friends. you just took a little more inertia to get to the energy levels of actually going on.

sia just nods at you lazily as she bounces to the beat of another shitty remix of 'what you came for' by calvin harris and rihanna. you never understood why frats always found the worst remixes of classic party bangers but anything flew after you had enough alcohol in your system so the music would recede to the depths of your mind in a couple cups of whatever the fuck this drink was.

especially since you were a full sunshine drunk; whenever you were drunk, you became the life of the party and would always be found in the center of the room, regardless of the music. sia was a flirty drunk and you really couldn't remember the last time sia actually spent the entire weekend in her own bed. props to her stamina, honestly.

rosie was a mix of you and sia in that she would become so much more bubbly but the second she found someone she wanted to spend the night with, she went after them with no hesitation.

fatima usually played the role of sober mommy when you all went out. although she was never one to miss out on a good time, when she did get drunk, she much preferred it to be within the confines of the four walls that she shared with her roommate and the people she trusted the most - you, rosie, and sia.

which is why when rosie abandons you for her on again, off again fuck buddy (miyeon cho) and her fuck buddy (yugyeom kim), you're not surprised at all.

"that's going to be an interesting story in the morning," you say, nodding to where rosie, miyeon, and yugyeom are all heading upstairs together. fatima nudges you to look at sia, where she's pressed up against none other than johnny suh (or the love of her life, prior to jaehyun, apparently).

"that's going to be an interesting story in the afternoon," fatima counters. you turn to her with furrowed eyebrows, as if to question the timing. "i don't think i've ever heard of a girl leaving johnny's bed before 3 o'clock the next afternoon."

your jaw hangs in shock as you watch your friend wrap her arms around the tall man's neck, whispering something into his ear when he bends down to kiss her collarbone.

"are all of the nct boys secretly porn stars or something? how can they all be that good in bed?" you gape, waving at sia when she turns around to wink at you and fatima as her and johnny are bustling out of the door, undoubtedly to the nct frat house.

"they test us as part of rushing," says a low, velvety voice behind you. a hot rush of shame runs up your spine for two reasons: a) you were able to recognize jung jaehyun just from his voice and b) he heard you gossiping about his frat brothers' sexual prowess.

you exchange a look with fatima before whipping around to meet jaehyun eye to eye. he's wearing a plain black t-shirt and lightwash distressed jeans but he might as well be wearing designer trash bags for all you care. what you do care about, unfortunately, is the almost slutty way his v-neck dips to show off the beginnings of the planes of his chest.

you feel no better than a victorian man and it takes fatima a poorly concealed cough to break you out of your thoughts. fuck, you'd done it again. you really needed to stop getting caught up in jung jaehyun's pretty face. and body. and that stupid smile.

"haha. very funny. sounds like something straight out of a cheesy porno sponsored by viagra or something," you say, rolling your eyes. smooth. very smooth. normally, you like to think that you're proficient in the witty banter department but something about this boy made you almost feel dumb about your comebacks.

jaehyun cocks an eyebrow, and you're distinctly made aware that even with platform sneakers on, jaehyun is a good head taller than you when you have to look upwards to notice the motion. "you seem to be well versed, y/n. you make it a habit to stay up to date?"

you flush at the thinly veiled euphemism at your x-rated movie watching habits before clearing your throat. "i'm more of a fan of practical study, really. i am a scientist, after all."

you're aware that fatima has slipped away from you to talk to another friend, park jeonghwa, and also the fact that you are slowly beginning your descent into drunkenness but you can't seem to bring yourself to find the caution in it all. it's just jaehyun, after all.

jaehyun hums, bringing the solo cup in his hand to his lips to take a swig. "you're a biomedical engineering major, aren't you?"

you balk at that. "wait, wait. you know my name and my major?"

jaehyun nods slowly, seemingly stumbling for a moment before he gains his self-confidence once more. "you don't know mine?"

"you're literally my ta. i know you're an east asian studies minor and your name because you told the class," you say, recovering quickly. it was a really good thing you were a quick thinker because you were lying through your teeth.

you knew jaehyun's name, minor, and even major (computer science) because of his notorious reputation, not because he was your ta. but the last thing you wanted was to give him the satisfaction of asserting his popularity on campus.

"anyway. what was that you were saying about 'practical study'?" jaehyun's eyes twinkle in the dim lighting of the cramped basement you were in and you had a feeling that if you were any more inebriated, you'd be diving headfirst into jung jaehyun's bed as long as he looked at you like that.

but fortunately (unfortunately?) you're sober enough to make mostly intelligent decisions - which just means that you're not going to jump headfirst. maybe feet first but not headfirst.

"wouldn't you like to know," you sing-song, leaning into jaehyun's body enough to smell the mix of woody pine, fresh water, and vodka that seems to emanate from him. jaehyun watches you as you lean over him to grab another solo cup from the assortment that some lower ranked frat brother had been forced into bartending.

you down the entire drink in two swigs, patting away the stray stream of alcohol that had dripped down onto your chest. you don't notice the way jaehyun's eyes follow your hand down its descent to your chest. but you finally feel like your element, and in a moment of sheer idiocy and liquid courage, you enter the growing throng of bodies behind you, beckoning jaehyun to follow you.

you're not 100% sure what you want from him, honestly. you want to have a good time, and you're sure you'll have one with or without him. but something about the way jaehyun follows you like a puppy into the mess of people makes you feel like a zap of electricity has hit your body.

and if you're being completely honest with yourself (as you usually only are with ethanol in your system), you really didn't hate jaehyun. you had no qualms with him as a person, even if you hated the consequences that came with a night with him.

it's when you're in the middle of the crowd, with jaehyun looking at you with those hooded eyes and hands tucked into his pockets when you realize what you want from jaehyun jung.

you want him to desire you the way that his mere presence makes people desire him.

so you do what you do best and just let go. it's ric flair drip by metro boomin that's playing - a song that's definitely not the one to get down to. but the bass fills you up in a way that never hits the same outside of a sweaty frat basement so you can't even bring yourself to care.

"i'm tryna fuck you and your bestie," you sing along with the near hundred people surrounding you. jaehyun is still looking at you with an eyebrow sitting higher and an appraising expression; something that somehow manages to get under your skin.

in a moment of passion, you manage to hook your fingers into one of jaehyun's belt loops, pulling him closer to you. you're aware that you've painted yourself to be jaehyun's next conquest if the way that the girls next to you look upset means anything, but you couldn't care less.

especially when you're this close to the bane of your existence. the song switches to something a little more what you need (under the influence by chris brown) and you look up at jaehyun through your lashes and in that moment, jaehyun knows what you're offering him through your gaze.

a challenge.

+++

jaehyun never really meant to take on the role of nct's resident whore. in fact, jaehyun had been planning on doing the exact opposite when he came to college.

although it was unbelievable now, jaehyun jung had originally just been a very strange, nerdy, and sweet boy. he never got up to much trouble, kept to himself most of the time, and was known for...nothing, really. he was sweet and bubbly but he wasn't exactly running with the popular crowd.

in fact, jaehyun was kinda forgotten all throughout his schooling. it was easy to forget about jaehyun, as though he were some visage in a dream that everyone shared.

it hurt.

so when jaehyun finally hit his growth spurt in senior year, started going to the gym, and his voice no longer cracked every other sentence, he felt like a whole new person. like he was finally the main character in his own life.

it felt so fucking good to look at the same girls who had smiled at him pitifully and have them melting under a single wink. the summer between high school and college had been wild, with more stories than jaehyun could really even care to keep track of.

but when college began, jaehyun was fully intending to return to flying under the radar with his new upgrade in personality, appearance, and wardrobe. with a face like his, however, doing so was about as easy as trying to pass professor yoon's intro to bio class - nearly impossible.

slowly but surely, jaehyun morphed back into the personality he had adopted that summer and surprisingly, it wasn't as foreign as he thought. he was still a good student and wasn't a stranger to having to skip out on hanging out with his friends to study.

but having a new girl in his bed every other day? that was definitely new. a new revelation, but a welcome one nonetheless.

and in that, jaehyun was used to people using all sorts of tactics to get with him. playing hard to get, with coy smiles and flirtatious winks. or the bold ones, who told him straight up that they wanted to spend the night with him. even the downright horrifying ones who tried to pretend like they were blackout drunk in hopes that that would 'attract' him. spoiler alert? it didn't.

jaehyun originally thought you were of the 'hard to get' caliber. the type of girl to say that she wasn't like other girls and that's why he should get with her instead. so initially, when he approached you at the party after seeing you in his class, he was mentally preparing himself for the whole pick me speech.

but it was something about the way you looked at him.

it was like two halves of your mind were battling against each other. on one hand, you looked like you wanted to fax jaehyun straight into the fiery pits of hell with high speed shipping. on the other, it also seemed like you wanted nothing more than to ride him until the sun came up. mixed with a little bit of curiosity, confusion, and downright anger with yourself for all the emotions, you looked like the perfect cocktail of firebrand that jaehyun couldn't help but become intrigued by.

so when you were laughingly talking to your best friend (jaehyun's frat brother kun was half in love with fatima, which meant that jaehyun was more than well acquainted with her) about him and frat brothers, he took it to be the opportunity he needed.

and when you're looking at him like this, daring him to make a move, almost as if to make your mind fall one way or another about drawing a conclusion on him, what is jaehyun to do but to make good on the challenge you've offered?

he watches you for a moment more, trying to commit the memory of what you look like when you're this carefree and happy, before taking the micro-step it takes to get so close he can smell the citrus and apple cider that you seem to always smell like.

"i promise you i can fuck you better than johnny," jaehyun says, a corner of his lips tilted up as your eyes flutter the closer he draws.

"johnny's your 'bestie'?" you say, and jaehyun can tell that the last threads of your resolve are starting to snap by the way that your hand is now pressed against his chest.

"that's what you're curious about right now? the dynamics of the nct frat brothers?" jaehyun asks but he knows that this back and forth is exactly you need right now; the time to decide if you can take the plunge. or if jaehyun's worth your time tonight.

"as i mentioned, i'm a scientist," you say, and even as your voice stays stable, your fingers seem to leave burning trails against jaehyun's skin as they dip and feed into crevices of jaehyun's body that he didn't even know existed.

"hmm," jaehyun manages to eke out when your fingers lace into his hair. he's not sure how you manage to find every single sensitive spot he has but he's fairly impressed by the way you catch his breath hitching as you work your other hand up as well.

"hmm? cat got your tongue, jaehyun?" you say, making sure that jaehyun looks straight into your eyes as you lean impossibly closer. "you know that sia's with johnny right now, right? girls talk - especially with your best friends. which means that if you can't make good on your promise, i will find out."

jaehyun feels like he's sweating like a pig but thankfully, you don't notice, too busy making him sweat. he clears his throat once, and then twice to make sure that his voice doesn't give out.

"that right?" he says, and you roll your eyes, letting go of him and stepping back. you seem to appraise him for a moment (and jaehyun is unnaturally nervous about what you will decide) before grabbing his hand and leading him to the door. you only pause to flag down fatima, who takes one look at your intertwined hands, and waves the two of you away.

jaehyun blushes like a schoolgirl at the way fatima flashes him a catty smile.

"i swear to god, jaehyun, if you're all talk and no game - or if you're gonna sit still and look pretty the whole time - i will literally blue ball you. i don't do pillow princes," you throw over your shoulder as the two of you make your way to the nct frat. jaehyun knows for a fact that the nct frat will not be a quiet place tonight by the number of dresses and pants he sees in the foyer and leading the way up the stairs.

he says nothing, even as you're quite nearly storming up the stairs with a certain level of urgency, almost as though if you were to slow down and think about just exactly what you're doing, you'd turn around and leave right now.

jaehyun definitely can't let that happen.

so the second that he gets you into his bedroom (he had to rock, paper, scissors with doyoung to get the room tonight), he shuts the door and locks it behind him. he turns around to see you looking between the two beds, as if trying to guess which one was jaehyun's.

he mentally pats himself on the back when he sees the fresh sheets on the bed. reaching where you stand in less than a stride, jaehyun turns you so that you're facing his bed, and you squirm to turn to meet his eyes even as his hands are on your waist.

"what is with your hands?" you ask harshly and jaehyun blinks as he looks down.

"what do you mean? they're on your waist," jaehyun says softly, and once again, he's hit with a wave of citrus and apple cider. you simper at him, grabbing his wrist and moving it incriminatingly downwards.

"what am i? a virgin? put them somewhere useful." you whisper the last part and it's as though jaehyun has just woken up.

"you know," jaehyun begins, sliding his other hand downwards to sit comfortably on the curve of your ass. "if i didn't know any better, i'd think you were trying to rile me up. i wonder..."

he doesn't finish his thought, instead pulling you close so that your hips are pressed against his. he can hear the gasp that you're desperately trying to conceal, coughing uselessly to the side. a devilish smirk grows on jaehyun's lips and for the first time in a long time, you're sure you're going to be up all night.

+++

you were, in fact, trying to rile him up. you had heard all the rumors about jaehyun and johnny, about how one night with them was like one night in heaven. hell, you'd had first hand accounts from sia yoo about exactly what it's like to be in bed with either of them - multiple times.

so when jaehyun had fronted with such a cautious attitude when he realized what you wanted, you were almost offended. if you wanted to take control and fuck a man's brains out, you could do that with anyone. why would you fight against your own mind this much to get with him?

but seonghwa park. changkyun im. even kun qian, before you discovered he was head over heels for fatima. jung jaehyun.

these were all people who put you in your place. the way you wanted to be. it just seemed as though jaehyun might've needed a little more persuasion to get there.

so yes, you were riling him up. was that such a crime?

by the way jaehyun's looking at you right now, his breath hot and heavy on your neck and his eyes dark with a feeling that you can't describe but resonates with you on a deeper, more primal level.

"you know, after you got with kun, he wouldn't shut up about it for a week," jaehyun says, pressing kisses down your neck, pausing when he reaches your breastbone. he eyes your corset top with a discerning eye before reaching behind you to pull the lace strings that were precariously holding your top for a week.

"yeah?" you ask, threading your fingers through jaehyun's thick hair as he makes quick work of your top, leaving it pooled on the floor as his lips find your chest as though he couldn't be physically parted from it.

"yeah. even after he met fatima, he said that you were the best he's ever had - that's a big reputation to live up to when you're in nct," jaehyun says, his voice breathy and deep as he walks you backwards so that the back of your knees hit the frame of his bed.

"hmm. what can i say? i know what i want and what i want is usually lots of fun," you say, letting jaehyun unzip your jeans, pulling them down and kicking them off when jaehyun moves too slowly.

"i know. god, after knowing that you and kun were going at it, i swear everyone was jerking off in their room for an hour. even winwin wanted to go for you today. you're an unpredictable woman; no one knows where and when you're going to show up to one of the parties so everyone has to take their chances when they get them," jaehyun says, tugging his shirt off and throwing it somewhere behind him carelessly.

you nearly melt when you see jaehyun's uncovered top, eyeing each and every hard ridge of his body, reaching out to touch him. his chest is almost soothingly warm as your fingers memorize each and every aspect of the planes of his chest, almost worried that they might disappear if you let go.

jaehyun looks at you amusingly as he lets your fingers dance across his body, focusing on tugging your panties off to discard them where he's sure he's going to have to search for them later on.

you pout when you see the difference in clothing but jaehyun just gently pushes you backwards so that your back is against his bed, leaving your pussy exposed in away that makes you feel absolutely mortified. you move to gain some level of privacy back but jaehyun is too fast, gripping onto your thighs incriminatingly as he raises an eyebrow.

"don't think that i'm soft just because i'm being nice to you now, pretty girl. i know you don't like to listen but don't hide from me. i will not let you have any fun if you try to hide from me," jaehyun says, his voice dropping a full octave. you suppress the shiver that runs through your body (and that simultaneously delights jaehyun) as you nod softly.

he seems satisfied by the way your body melts and rewards you for your submission by licking a wet strip up your pussy, one hand snaking up to touch your nipple while the other one keeps your thighs open.

jaehyun is slow at first, exploring each and every hidden crevice of your body but as he feels you get wetter and wetter, he can't seem to stay soft for too long. he continues to press his lips against yours but the moment you try to grind your hips against his lips, he pulls away, his tongue darting out to taste your essence on him.

you almost whine at the loss of his hot mouth on your pussy, and you're embarrassed to realize that in front of jaehyun jung, you are no better than your best friend in falling in love with the way he moves.

"you're not going to cum from my tongue, baby," jaehyun says, practically ripping the belt out from where it was caging his jeans. "especially when i know that your pussy is magic."

"you say that, jaehyun, but you're being so fucking soft. if i didn't know any better, i'd think you're in love with me," you snort, trying to catch your breath. jaehyun freezes from where his boxers are hanging so low on his hips, you can see the muscles in his pelvis tense angrily as he looks at you dangerously.

"my fucking bad for making sure you're wet enough to take me," jaehyun whispers, pulling close to you. his eyes turn even darker than usual and a small spark of excitement ignites in your chest when you realize that you've finally reached it - jaehyun's breaking point.

"sounds like you're scared, jaehyun. you know what? you know why kun was so good? because he wasn't scared. he wasn't scared to fuck me like he was trying to break the bed," you retort, and saying kun's name is when jaehyun finally snaps. he tears his boxers off as he pushes you so that you're further up on his bed.

"y/n, i'm not fucking joking around. if you want me to stop, say it now. just say the word, and i'll pretend like this never happened. because i swear to every god in existence, if you let me, i'll ruin every other man for you," jaehyun says and his knuckles turn white from how hard his clenching his fingers to keep himself from pouncing. the thought is almost cute if you weren't desperate to be fucked into next week.

"if i wanted you to stop, i wouldn't have said kun's name, would i?"

that's all it takes. no sooner do the words leave your mouth, jaehyun's on top of you, every inch of his body fighting to claim yours. he's not sure what it is about being with a bratty girl but every time a girl tries to challenge him, jaehyun can feel his excitement grow as his mind runs wild with ways to prove you wrong.

and with a girl as beautiful and sexy as you? he was going to have the time of his life.

time of his life he does.

+++

when jaehyun wakes up, he's almost happy. almost because he has bruises on his hips from how hard he had pounded into you, a litter of hickeys across his chest, and freshly washed hair from when you had enticed him into taking a shower with you.

inevitably, it led to another hour in the shower that jaehyun had spent having his soul sucked out from his dick, eating you out under the shower, and seeing you cum twice just from his tongue.

if only he had woken up with you still in his bed, jaehyun would've actually been happy.

realistically, jaehyun had no clue what he was expecting. after taking a shower, it had taken you a total of five minutes to fall asleep in his arms, wearing nothing but jaehyun's oversized t-shirt and your panties.

there was no pillowtalk, no heart to hearts, nothing. no discussions of having whatever happened last night happening again. no trying to get to know each other better.

not that you had ever been obligated to do so. if anything, jaehyun was far more obligated to do so, after practically declaring that he had wanted to get with you since last semester - which he had been completely serious about.

but with his reputation, regardless of what he had said last night, jaehyun's almost 100% sure that you would've disappeared by the morning.

he's so caught up in his thoughts that he almost misses the bright pink post-it note on his neatly folded shirt on his desk in the corner of the room.

9.5/10. if you see sia, tell her she was right about your tongue. see you in intro to east asia on monday.

jaehyun's half disappointed and half happy. disappointed because you'd never left your number or anything and happy because at least he knew that you weren't going to completely avoid him whenever you ran into each other next.

he shakes his head as he folds the post-it note and throws it in the trash can next to his desk.

jaehyun jung may not have started college with the intention of becoming the resident fuckboy but he still had a reputation to maintain. he had fucked countless women over his time at sm university and he had no intention of falling for any of them.

he was not about to get soft-hearted or soft-dicked by a girl he was with once.

even if she was really good in bed. like really really good. like good enough to make him think about the other boys she's been with and if they'd made you feel as good as he did.

fuck. her. which jaehyun had already done. which meant that he needed to move onto the next step of the day before his head exploded with all of the implications flying around in his mind about their relation to each other (nonexistent) and if you were thinking about him like he was thinking of you (you weren't).

he pads out of his room, passing doyoung on the way out, who claps him on the back and says, "you finally got with y/n?" jaehyun doesn't know how doyoung knows but it strikes him that neither of you are very subtle people and you had caused quite the scene leaving with him last night.

similar reactions are offered to him by everyone he passes. he's not really sure how many of the boys you've been with but jaehyun can feel his street cred go up by at least a decameter with the way some of these pledges are looking at him.

in fact, everyone is looking at him with a new look of respect in their eyes until he reaches the kitchen, where yoo sia and johnny are sitting, practically eye-fucking.

jaehyun was very used to seeing johnny's friends in the kitchen the next day, neither of them ready to really say goodbye each other yet but for some reason, knowing that sia was your best friend and seeing her with johnny sets jaehyun's stomach into a series of knots that he was sure he was going to have to unravel when he had his head on straight.

"she already left?" sia says, finally breaking her stare from johnny's. jaehyun shrugs, digging around the fridge to see if they had any coffee. they didn't (none that wasn't expired anyway) so he has to settle for a caprisun.

"she had somewhere to be," jaehyun says. he wants to ask sia if it's normal for you to leave that early. it can't be if sia seems surprised that you'd left before the clock struck ten. what did that mean? what does that say about jaehyun? oh god. what if you hated it. what if you hated it so much that you didn't want to spend a second longer with jaehyun.

he cringes as he locks eyes with another shiny eyed pledge (jaehyun thinks his name is jungwoo) and tries to shake his head to clear any and all thoughts of you. he was pussydrunk. that was the only explanation. he just needed to dick down someone else and then he would get over whatever little infatuation thing he had going on.

"really? hmm..." sia says finally. jaehyun turns to see her looking right at him and suddenly, he's transported back to the previous weekend, when sia had been wrapped up in his sheets.

+++

"why did you start fucking around like this?" sia had asked, her chest still heaving from their previous illicit activities as she wraps herself tighter in jaehyun's sheets. jaehyun pauses for a moment as he catches his breath, pulling on his boxers as he thinks. he throws the shirt that sia's grabbing at, still not sure how to piece together his thoughts.

or why he wants to tell sia the truth. maybe it's because no one's ever asked about it before, but jaehyun feels strangely vulnerable as sia watches as he clambers back into his bed, her expression pensive and uncharacteristically wise.

"i don't know," jaehyun says honestly, laying over the covers as he feels his face grow hotter under sia's unrelenting stare. "i think it's because i wanted to know what it felt like. to know what it felt like to be wanted for a night instead of just being in the sidelines as the guy with the potential. just the guy that people brought along as the friend of the hot guys that kept him around."

sia doesn't say anything, instead turning so that she was lying on her back. jaehyun turns to look at her, to see if he could decipher some level of understanding from her silence. really, he knows that he should feel embarrassed about confessing his insecurities to a girl that he's hooked up with two or three times but he can't bring himself to for some reason.

maybe it's because he knows that she wouldn't say anything about it to anyone. or because he knows that she's head over heels for johnny, whether she'd admit it or not. or maybe it's just because for the first time, someone had asked something about jaehyun just to get to know him as a person, rather than trying to get him in their bed.

not that he really minded that - it just made him feel like it was all a lot more transactional than he was used to. he had been a romantic once upon a time. when you grew up with the nickname of 'valentine boy', it would have been stranger if he didn't have some sense of romance.

but jaehyun's penchant for romance disappeared almost just as soon as he realized that no one else was yearning for a pure type of love like he was.

and yet, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. turns out that jaehyun's a very adaptable man. if he wouldn't find love in this decade, then perhaps it would be lust that he would have to settle for.

"then again," he begins, gaze darting over to where sia had slipped on his t-shirt as she tiredly begins to settle down in his bed once more. "isn't that what everyone is doing nowadays? looking for a warm body for the night, instead of a genuine connection?"

sia snorts at that, turning so that she was facing jaehyun now. "don't tell me that you're one of the boomer types. the ones who always go around peacocking about how they were born in the wrong generation and that they're one of the 'good guys'. i might actually leave right now if you are."

"no, no i'm not. well. maybe a little bit. but i don't know why that's so bad to be honest," jaehyun acquiesces finally. sia rolls her eyes, but even she goes quiet for a moment. once again, jaehyun's reminded that this is sia yoo - a girl who routinely wakes up in someone else's sheets every saturday (although it was johnny's more often than not) and as sexist as it was, someone who carried a reputation for it. even jaehyun was surprised to find that she was such a deep conversationalist.

of course, he mentally berates himself soon after but he can't help the thought. for him, sia was just the girl he would get with a couple times. a good time. the fact that that's the only role she fulfilled in his mind made him feel disgusting inside out as he waits for her response, vowing that he would work to change his mindset. or maybe just change personalities altogether. ick.

"you know one of my best friends? y/n? the one who got with kun before he decided to go clean for fatima?" sia says with a careful tone. jaehyun nods, not trusting that he wouldn't say something dumb after his sudden realization of his flawed thinking.

"this is something she always says but it's honestly pretty simple: love is however you want to define it. humans spend so much trying to find labels and definitions for things that just might not have or need them. for such an advanced species, we spend so much time concerned about how to put a feeling into a box or how to classify a thought instead of rejoicing in the fact that we had such a beautiful feeling in the first place."

"for people in this generation, the old school love is hard to find because they've got so many other types of love that weren't allowed back when old school love was big. it's a different type of freedom to love someone on the weekends but never to fall in love with them. maybe we're just romanticizing hookup culture but who's to say that we can't? maybe we're all more romantic than we want to admit. maybe when we fall into the sheets with someone we barely know, we're looking for a fragment of love to satiate our heart in ways we didn't know it needed."

jaehyun doesn't know what to say to that so he just pulls her closer to him and she lets him, throwing her leg over his as they fall asleep, closer to each other than they had ever been.

+++

you're not sure what had compelled you to leave so quickly that morning. you usually like to get the boys who sleep with to at least cook you breakfast before you left (for compensation of being terrible in bed, if the situation so called for it) but for some reason, every instinct in your body had pulled you to leave.

you had waken up at nearly 5 in the morning, a mere two and a half hours after the two of you had fallen asleep, gathered your clothes, and were about to leave when you turn to look at jaehyun, still snoring away peacefully, his arm crossing his body to rest on the empty space next to him that you had occupied previously.

you had a feeling that you're going to lament leaving this early after psychoanalyzing why you were leaving so early later in the day but for now, if your gut was telling you to leave, you were going to heed the precautions.

but even as you're about to leave, you find yourself turning to jaehyun's desk, sparse but somehow still a little messy as you rummage for a post-it note and a pen to write with. you grin to yourself when you find yourself successful (and endearing somehow that jaehyun has bright pink post-it notes).

you pass a brother on the way out (undoubtedly a freshman who had received the short stick of the duties tonight) but you wave him off when he offers to walk you home. dangerous? most definitely. but you really needed the time and space to yourself and the short, almost ten minute walk back to your apartment would offer some enlightenment.

spoiler alert: it didn't. no matter how hard you wracked your brain to come up with some version of a logical explanation, you realized that there was just simply no way to do so.

and something about that frustrated you. you knew it wasn't a big deal. jaehyun was just a hook-up. a one night stand. and yet...something wasn't fitting right in your mind. so you start to think in the only way you know how, collecting all of the pieces of information you did have.

a) you just had sex - mind-blowing sex with jaehyun. he was everything you expected and more when it came to a sexual partner. b) you didn't develop feelings for him. sex comes fifth on the list of things you subconsciously (or now consciously, since you've spoken it into existence) have when looking for a potential boyfriend. first comes personality, then intelligence, then ambition, then looks, and then sex. you didn't even have a conversation long enough to figure out if jaehyun had more than three brain cells to piece together. c) jaehyun jung had confessed that he had wanted to get with you since last semester. did he mean with you-r body or with you?

you shake your head as if to physically shake the irrational thoughts in your mind out and press your id against the scanner at the entrance of your apartment building, rubbing your fingers against your temples as you get into the elevator to reach your apartment.

unlocking the door to your (empty) apartment, you decide to shelf the thoughts for some time when your head wasn't pounding and collapse on your bed, thanking the lords you'd had the sense to take a shower at jaehyun's.

and the last thing you remember is the smell of jaehyun's shampoo in your hair as you drift into blissful, dreamless sleep.

+++

you're not surprised to feel a weight on your bed when you wake up the next morning. you blearily open your eyes to make out sia's general figure, rosie and fatima undoubtedly chatting quietly in the kitchen.

you vaguely piece together something about fatima having kun over but him sleeping on the couch and you try to push down the guilt that creeps up into your brain as you realize that you had left fatima alone at the party. a party where all of you knew a lot of people (and the outcome was just as everyone had thought it would be) but the principle of the matter stung nonetheless.

you push aside the thought - along with the idea that you should probably apologize to fatima when the cottony feeling in your mouth started to subside - in favor of looking at sia, who is strangely quiet as she watches you gather yourself. for her boisterous personality, sia yoo could see through anyone to the extent of theorized telepathy so you don't even bother trying to hide anything from her.

although, it really is hard to take her seriously when she's got hickey's littered across her neck. well. you suppose you don't look much better at the moment.

"you left before 10 o'clock," sia says simply. you don't pretend to not understand what she means as you nod, pushing yourself up on your bed as fatima and rosie also enter, rosie handing you a glass of water.

"i know," you say softly. "but i want to hear about everyone else's nights right now. i just don't know that i'm in the right headspace to think about why i left so early - i'm not even sure i know why i left so early."

sia says nothing for a moment, watching your face, almost as if she were trying to read your very essence. but she relents, reaching out to hold your hand briefly before completely switching up, speaking animatedly about her very adventurous night, leaving you to simmer in your thoughts.

had sia always been this smart? probably. who's to say that she wasn't, after all?

turns out that sia and johnny were actually going to go on a date on wednesday, after realizing that their chemistry extended further out of the bedroom than either of them had expected. sia was through the roof, obviously, given that she had been thirsting over johnny (although more in a sexual sense than anything else) for so long.

rosie, miyeon, and yugyeom also worked a lot better than any of them had thought so you were sure that you were going to lose your roommate to the other '97 liners more often for the foreseeable future.

fatima was the only one who had a pg night, with kun coming over to her apartment and just chilling together the whole night, eventually having him sleep over since he was too tired to walk back to the apartment that he lived out (it was on the other side of campus, given that he moved out of the nct house pretty late into the semester last year).

"speaking of kun, when are you guys gonna make it official? i mean after this year, you guys are going to only have one year together before you guys graduate," you say, bunching your comforter before letting go. it felt weird saying that. especially in regards to your friends. theoretically, you had all the time in the world together.

but all the time in the world wasn't enough when it came to these girls.

fatima sighs before getting up, wringing her hands together as she thinks. "i don't know. i mean kun's graduating a year early so i really only have this year left. i - i know how much he likes me. i know that he wants to do this right way. go the whole nine yards."

"but...?" rosie says, elongating the syllables as you and sia look at her patiently. fatima shakes her head, getting up to walk around the room, six paces enough to take her from one side of your room to the other.

"i just don't know. kun's great and honestly, i really think that's the one. or at least one of the ones for me. but i just don't know if my parents would be okay with it. i mean my parents are great! they give me so much freedom and honestly, i'm really thankful that my parents allowed me to find religious and spiritual freedom on my own, without ever trying to shove it down my throat."

"but at the same time...how can i betray their trust in me by dating someone who is so far from my religion? like. kun is a great guy but he's not muslim. and sure, i don't follow a lot of the stricter things in islam but i - i have god in my heart. and i don't know that god would want me to start a family that doesn't follow islam. especially since i can see that in my future with kun and kun - i don't know that i could ask kun to convert to another religion for me."

the room is silent for a little bit after fatima finishes, with her collapsing in your bed next to you. rosie and sia exchange a look with each other, and then you, as they both decide to leave the room, leaving you to console fatima.

you were always the most philosophical one out of the bunch anyway.

"look, fatima, i can't pretend to know what it's like to have that kind of mental burden and i really can't understand what it's like to think about the future and be concerned about the impact on the world you might create. i read about something the other day though - did you know that kun means 'manifesting' or 'believing' in arabic?" fatima looks at you with disbelief written all over her face, shaking her head.

"how did you know that?" she asks and you just shrug, nodding at the 'islam for dummies' book you had bought in hopes of understanding a little bit more about one of your closest friend's religion.

"that's not the point. but fatima, you are the single kindest, most beautiful person i know. and i have faith that you will choose what's right for you, not what's right for the people around you because you know better than everyone that the only person who can judge you is god. and no one - no one - on this earth has the right to take that peace away from you."

fatima is silent before wrapping you in her arms, the soft material of her hoodie comforting you and lulling you back into a sleep that's dreamless and calm.

+++

jaehyun doesn't know what to expect when he walks into intro to east asia on monday. should he say hi? wave? start a conversation? should he acknowledge that he spent the better part of his weekend wondering if he would lose his fuckboy status if someone realized just how down bad he was for you?

probably anything but the last one was a good idea.

jaehyun was not in a good state of mind. he was a hot 19 year old man with a near perfect gpa (a whopping 3.98 only because he got a singular a-), a not so terrible set of dimples, and a killer body. and yet he was walking around like how he had been prior to his enlightening summer.

it's almost freeing but also humiliating to think that one night in bed was enough to make him start an entire philosophy but that was where jaehyun was at so who was he to question anything, really?

in fact, jaehyun is so caught up in what he would name his new branch of philosophy (loserism, with a lot of inspiration from zeno) that he doesn't even realize that you've already walked past him and taken your seat.

third row, first seat. you're putting your bag down next to your chair, pulling out your laptop, tossing your hair over your shoulder when it falls in your face. jaehyun tears his eyes away, knowing that this was not a good look for him.

if jaehyun really wanted to pursue you, which he was sure was where all of his jumbled emotions were eventually going to lead him anyway, he knew for a fact that you weren't going to be interested in having to take the lead. especially if jaehyun wasn't even sure that you were interested in the possibility.

but that's a struggle for another day. what was it that stephanie laurens said? that all women want sometimes is a little old-fashioned loving?

that was, in fact, the opposite of what sia had said you were really into but jaehyun had a sneaking suspicion that you wouldn't mind handing the reigns over in the decision making process portion of a relationship, or the courtship, if your time together this weekend alluded to anything.

jaehyun almost misses the beginning of the lecture, where professor ma (no one actually calls him that besides himself) was going into some of his favorite places to stay during his time in china. and while missing any portion of professor ma's lecture was of no crime, he also almost misses the way that you're looking straight at him, faking a yawn when jaehyun finally locks eyes with you.

professor ma was known for giving stellar recommendation letters (which was why johnny had coerced jaehyun into ta'ing for his class in the first place) but he was such a pain in the ass.

jaehyun has to keep from laughing out loud when he sees your exaggerated gestures to show how boring you were finding the professor's lecture to be, pulling himself together in time for him to finally be able to take a seat in the back of the classroom, professor ma having asked him to take attendance for the some two hundred students in the classroom. by hand.

he almost drops the piece of paper that you slide into his hand, subtly slipping it into the pocket of his basketball shorts as makes his way up the flight of stairs to the tenth row, dropping his backpack on the floor next to him, in a rush to open the delicate piece of paper in his hands.

there's only three words on the piece of paper and a series of dashes and yet jaehyun knows that this is all he needs. this is all the signal he needs to know that he wasn't imagining the chemistry or the tension between the two of you. and fuck what anyone said about his 'reputation'; it was jaehyun's turn - the old jaehyun's turn - to get the chance to experience the relationship he had always been dreaming of.

he rereads the little piece of paper before smiling and tucking it into his pocket again.

earn the rest. 9__-___-____.

+++

johnny suh is getting whiplash from his best friend's actions.

one day, he's asking sia yoo if her best friend usually leaves her one night stands by the time they wake up. then he's throwing said one night stand's notes into the trash can before leaving for some frat meeting or another.

the next day, he's carrying another note from the same one night stand he can't seem to get out of his head.

jaehyun doesn't tell johnny anything. he really doesn't need to at this point. johnny suh is a senior in college and he's pretty much seen it all. he's also the vice president of a frat - which means that even if he didn't have all the experience that he did just because of his seniority, he definitely seen it because of the sheer number of stupid decisions frat brothers will find themselves making when they think they're going to either a) get drunk b) get high c) get their dick wet.

johnny knows it's all in good fun (fun that he's definitely not opposed to) but jaehyun's always been a little bit of an enigma when it came to all of it. he was good at the drinking and alright at the getting high and absolutely fan-fucking-tastic at the getting his dick wet.

it was the goddamn dimples. everyone always fell for the dimples.

and sure, while jaehyun had had crushes before (johnny could read his little like no other), they'd always been fueled by the hormonal rush of adrenaline and testosterone pumping through his veins. in fact, johnny's not sure that jaehyun had had a proper crush on anyone at college after getting fucked over in high school, where johnny had also gone to with jaehyun.

not that johnny had really known jaehyun. he was quieter and kept to himself more then. didn't really hang out in the same crowd as johnny.

he knows that's not necessarily true. johnny had, truthfully, just completely overlooked jaehyun. like a lot of girls had until jaehyun had finally started to grow into his features.

but johnny knows jaehyun now and he also knows that if jaehyun had never met gianna lee, jaehyun wouldn't have ever dove headfirst into the deep end of shitfuckery and sleeping around with every breathing body in sight.

cliché story of course. college boy becomes a fuckboy after having his heart broken by a girl in high school. johnny's almost 100% positive that sia's shoved at least two or three novels like those in johnny's face, with the same exact plot.

but what is life but a series of clichés after all. and honestly, did it even matter? it was real. it happened to jaehyun. that was all. end of story.

so johnny doesn't even say a word when he sees the post-it note in jaehyun's trash can. he's silent as he watches sia and jaehyun talk and jaehyun fall into a period of overthinking (and jaehyun knows he's overthinking too because johnny can see him shake his head even as he continues to stare at the 'people' tab of intro to east asia).

and johnny finally decides to break his silence when he sees jaehyun with a new post-it note, although this time it was a much more tame blue post-it, and a pensive look.

jaehyun slips it to johnny to read as they're sitting at the local starbucks, with johnny filling out some paperwork for the job he was signed on for as soon as the school year ended and jaehyun studying for the organic chemistry exam he had coming up the next week.

he doesn't say anything when he passes the note but johnny can see him sideye-ing him to catch his reaction and it's all he can do to keep from letting a little smile slip through.

he hands the piece of paper back, watching as jaehyun immediately stuffs it into his backpack, and for some reason, he's really not sure what to say. if sia were here, she would know exactly what to say, and how to say it. she had a way of saying things that were a little too straightforward to feel good but also obviously coming from a generally good place.

it was one of the reasons why johnny had thought it would be a good idea to make it official with her. sia yoo was nothing like what johnny had thought - and the thought simultaneously frightens him and comforts him.

"you plan on asking her out on a date?" johnny says lightly, sliding his laptop over to pretend to look at his phone casually. in actuality, he's typing furiously to sia (one of the few people that johnny trusted or consulted when it came to advice giving) about what was happening.

johnny is not very surprised when sia's gray bubble appears, disappears, and then appears again only to say, "yeah, i know."

he waits for a more elaborate response. or even a more sia-like response but the more that he talks to her, the more johnny is learning that sia is more unpredictable than she really seems to be.

and sia yoo seems to be completely out of the box.

johnny shakes his head, as if to physically get rid of the thoughts of her from his head, unsure why he was thinking of her when he was supposed to be helping out one of his boys.

"yeah. i think so? i don't know. i mean we had a good time and we definitely have chemistry. but we literally just had one night in bed and that's it." jaehyun furrows his eyebrows as he realizes that's not just it. "well, there is the fact that kun was walking around singing her praises. and i know that fatima wouldn't be friends with kun or y/n if she wasn't sure they're both good people. not to mention the fact that i've always thought she's kinda hot. but it's always been superficial. even us spending the night together was really nothing more than finding each other hot or trying to figure out if the talk around town was real or not."

johnny takes a sip of his americano as he lets jaehyun's words sink into his own mind. jaehyun rests his heads on his arms crossed in front of him and johnny knows exactly the set of thoughts that's running through jaehyun's mind because they were the same as johnny's when he had decided to ask sia out on a date.

is it worth it? is it worth possibly getting my heart strung up on someone again just to face the possibility of breaking it again?

so johnny offers the only advice that he really has.

"talk to roseanne. girls' fiercest protectors are their friends and something tells me that talking to her will make you fall on one side or the other."

+++

the next time that jaehyun sees roseanne is a complete coincidence. he really only meant to say hi to one of his homies, yugyeom, on the way out of the library and hadn't expected to run into roseanne or miyeon at all. especially not a singular day after johnny had suggested that he seek her out in the first place.

he watches as yugyeom thumbs the rip in miyeon's jeans as he continues to talk to jaehyun about something jeongguk had done the previous weekend. and then he sees miyeon press a kiss to roseanne's cheek as she gets up to fill up her water bottle.

jaehyun didn't think he would understand that dynamic at all but whatever floated their boat. who was he to judge? he had watched the barbie movie and was still having a crisis about his masculinity and was actively searching out his one night stand's (were you still just his one night stand?) roommate and best friend to fix it. to be fair, he didn't really fully understand the barbie movie, to the chagrin of doyoung's girlfriend nairobi but that was besides the point.

yeah. jaehyun was really in no position to speak. wow he had a lot of things to work on internally. the more he talked to the women in his life, the more he was realizing this. again. not the point.

roseanne takes one look at his face and then exchanges a look with miyeon and then yugyeom before standing up and walking towards the exit, looking at jaehyun questioningly when she realizes that jaehyun hasn't moved an inch. jaehyun hurriedly bids yugyeom and miyeon goodbye as he rushes after her.

the two of them linger outside of the library and roseanne just raises an eyebrow as she appraises jaehyun. and for some reason, jaehyun stands up straighter, and she just sighs, a small smile playing on her lips.

"let me guess. 'who makes people work for their number? what is this? sprinkle sprinkle type of stuff?' or maybe 'this is kinda cringey, isn't it?' or just a sweet and simple 'what the actual fuck?'" roseanne says nonchalantly, listing out each possible question jaehyun could have come to ask.

"would it make me a bad man if i said yes to all of the above?" jaehyun asks, shoving his hands into his pockets. roseanne shrugs, crossing her arms across her chest.

"not really. i don't think so at least. it's a fair set of questions that even i asked her the first time a guy came up to me asking who the fuck my roommate thought she was," roseanne says. she takes sees the look of confusion on jaehyun's face as she continues, "you're definitely not the first person to ask me that but you are of a selective few. y/n usually doesn't let people get this far in the first place. and secondly, she doesn't really tell us much about people she's interested in until much later."

"she's a strange person, if i'm being honest with you. there's just something about her that makes her so captivating and invisible at the same time. she'll capture the attention of everyone in the room but if you talk to her, she'll make you feel like her best friend. she seems like an open book, and an even more open friend. and you feel so close to her within a conversation and then you end the conversation, you realize that even as she spoke, she revealed nothing about herself."

"i'm her best friend and i could tell you very confidently that i didn't know a single thing about her truly until recently. it made me frustrated at first. like i was a shitty friend or something. but the closer to her i got, the more i realized that she's always been a great friend but no one's been a great friend to her. she's very selective with the people she associates with - not just people she lets herself be seen with but people she confides in."

"this whole thing is a defense mechanism. she'd be caught dead before she'd ever admit it but she just hasn't been loved in the way that she's loved and now she's more guarded for it. i'll tell you this jaehyun, but if you want to give up, do it now. she says she's just going to give you her number if you earn it but once you get all 10 digits, know that she's gonna give you her heart."

"it seems like i'm violating girl code by telling you all this but like i said, even if you were to ask y/n, she would say the same thing. not in so many words but still. like i said. she's an open book and a closed heart. she knows you're gonna ask me and so she only tells me something that she would be okay with you hearing."

jaehyun, who had been listening quietly and patiently the whole time, cuts in with a quiet voice. "isn't it exhausting to live like that?"

roseanne looks at him strangely, as though she was truly seeing him for the first time. jaehyun doesn't know if he's offended or relieved that she'd done what he'd done to sia - made assumptions based on his appearance. he lands on neutral. it's human nature, to try and make proper guesses about who's gonna act like what.

the ancient art of preventing heartbreak, jaehyun supposes.

"maybe. i don't think so though. it's gotta be a different level of relief knowing that no one's gonna talk shit about you because a) no one knows you well enough to do that or b) because you're so careful with who you trust that you know they'd never betray you or even c) they can only talk about what you put out into the world. it's why censorship is so effective. people can only talk about what they know. there's few people who will ignore what they see to find what they can't see tangibly."

"are all of y/n's friends secretly poets or something? why the hell are you guys all speaking cryptically like you're all freemasons or some shit like that. i can't tell if i find it cringey or cool," jaehyun says, cocking his head.

roseanne lets out a real, full bellied laugh at that, clutching her stomach as chuckles escape her. jaehyun's not sure what he's said that's so funny but he knows for a fact that she's not laughing with him, but at him.

"why is it cringey, jaehyun? why would it be cool? it's just what it is. we're just girls. you'll see us at the party next weekend, drinking our weight in alcohol. we'll have the conversations about makeup and dresses and having fun and our future and our past. there's nothing like freemasonry, i promise. it's just so amusing to see men get alarmed by the thoughts that girls have been wrestling with since they've been twelve. the duality of man, i guess," roseanne says finally, once she's caught her breath.

jaehyun doesn't know how to respond to that so he elects to save the remaining tatters of his dignity by just not responding at all. if there's one thing he's learned about you, it's that you surround yourself by women who are not hesitant about putting him in his place. and he's oddly thankful for it.

"i have one last question. well, two last questions, actually," jaehyun says when he sees roseanne turning around to head back inside, still wiping the tears from her eyes from laughing too hard.

roseanne turns, a knowing glint in her eyes even before jaehyun asks his question.

"how many guys have talked to you? and what's the highest number anyone's ever gotten to?"

roseanne is silent and just as the silence begins to turn awkward, she promptly turns on her heel and begins to walk away. she opens the door to the library before she seemingly changes her mind and looks back at jaehyun.

"two guys have talked to me. you're gonna have to ask fatima about the second question though. and jaehyun? the next number is 6."

96_-___-____.

+++

jaehyun finds fatima not soon after his conversation with roseanne. he's sitting in the nct house, watching johnny pace back and forth in his room, trying to figure out if what he was wearing was too casual for a date to a bowling alley.

it was way too formal, in jaehyun's opinion. but he was just going to wait for johnny to finish panicking (even if he would never admit that he was, in fact, panicking) to figure that out on his own. seriously though, who wore a button down and slacks to a bowling alley?

then again, he was going on a date with sia yoo so really, anything was fairplay when it came to that girl. she was a whirlwind of literally everything that could possibly go into a human being. she was a maximalist to the fullest, seizing every opportunity she could to make good memories, pressing forward with a sense of perfect clarity and sobriety that most people would be scared of.

the type of girl who was the main character of any story that she would feature in. sia was the type of person that people who trip and fall over themselves trying to have a good time with that she practically promised. she walked around with fairy dust in her fingers and a strange sense of wisdom that felt like she could read you like a book within a singular meeting with her.

jaehyun knows that she's the most intimidating out of all of the girls. out of you, roseanne, fatima, and sia, she was hands down the most frightening because even though she could read everyone else, no one could really read her.

then there was roseanne. she was the wet dream of every girl alive - the reason why straight girls lamented that they were straight and still falling a little bit in love with her. she was hot, flirtatious to the extent of making everyone wonder what they were when she gave them even a split second of attention, and so incredibly full of life. it doesn't surprise jaehyun that she had become exclusive with miyeon and yugyeom. for some reason, he feels like she just wouldn't have been able to settle for liking one person at once.

she was a little too much for just one person to be able to handle. she was like the human personification of a leather jacket wearing, motorcycle driving, woody cologne smelling wattpad trope. jaehyun understands her appeal all too well.

and then there was fatima. she was kind, sweet, kept to herself, and always offered a helping hand to those around her. jaehyun understood why kun had fallen so hard for her within two minutes of meeting her. she had an air about her that made you feel like she was someone who truly cared about you, even if you didn't know her and she didn't know you all that well. she was the type of girl who was always forgotten in the novels about warriors and princesses. the girl who was often reduced to nothing more than the main character's best friend.

until you met a girl like her in real life. fatima was still a little forgotten, and jaehyun knew that. guys often overlooked her in favor of her 'hotter' or 'wilder' friends, which is admittedly what jaehyun had thought at first. but she was just so genuine and clearheaded. she protected her peace in a way that was so unusual for young, college-going students. not to say that sia, roseanne, or you weren't genuine or anything like that. but fatima was the type of girl that jaehyun knew was perfect for kun. the girl that he could go home and know that no matter what he had done in his past, she would love him all the same.

and there was you. smart, strangely private, and a series of contradictions housed within one heart. jaehyun wracks his brain, trying to gather everything that he knew about you and yet, he comes up empty.

frustratingly empty.

jaehyun vaguely registers the fact that johnny has finally changed and is getting ready to go. he knows that he should say something about how johnny should just be himself and that sia liking him is completely up to her, regardless of what johnny were to do. but when he locks eyes with johnny, he realizes that johnny already knows.

so jaehyun just claps him on the back as he heads back to his room, his mind spinning as he tries to think of everything that he knows about you. and he draws a blank every fucking time.

he knows superficial things about you. maybe it's because he doesn't know you like he knows your friends. he hasn't talked to you as much as he's talked to them. but how does he not know you? he's been wanting to get with you for so long. he wanted more than just your body. he wanted your charm and your appeal.

was it just your body? is that all it was? is that all jaehyun wanted? somehow, jaehyun doesn't want to believe that. he doesn't want that for himself. logically, he knows that gianna's impact on his life shouldn't be extending this far. he knows that he shouldn't want or have to fight himself this hard but you're not making it much easier for him.

when was the last time jaehyun wanted to get to know such an enigma of a girl? gianna lee. and he wants nothing to do with a girl like that ever again.

and yet, here he is. falling into the same trap all over again.

jaehyun's so caught up in his own thoughts, feeling himself starting to spiral when he bumps in fatima and kun, who are equally caught up in a conversation with each other.

"oh, my bad," jaehyun mumbles, ready for fatima to brush past him but she doesn't, looking at jaehyun and then kun.

"hey man, we're headed back to my place. why don't you come back with us?" kun offers, and jaehyun just nods blankly, as he starts to follow them out of the nct house. kun stops at the entrance where he picks up a textbook from yuta, who had been borrowing it for the last week, before the three of them make their way out.

"how are you, jaehyun?" fatima asks with a sweet smile as they pile into kun's car. somehow, jaehyun doesn't want to give her a generic, insincere answer.

"i'm...okay. i'm just okay. confused but okay," jaehyun says and fatima seems alright with this answer. kun pulls out of the 'driveway' of the frat house, exchanging in a quiet conversation with fatima about what they were planning on eating for the night, leaving jaehyun to simmer in his thoughts.

gianna lee. there was a name that he thought about almost every day and never all at the same time. the girl who had made him and broke him. the girl that jaehyun had trusted with his heart and made him regret ever doing that.

the girl who had been the first love of his life.

+++

gianna was a year younger than him. smart, so incredibly sweet, and yet someone that no one could confidently say that they knew. she was the type of girl who could slip under the radar as easily as her friends seemed to always stay on top of.

she ran in the same circle as jaehyun had in senior year, right when jaehyun was beginning to blossom into the man that he was today. she had always been kind to him, if not a little withdrawn, even when he was a skinny boy with proportions that absolutely did not seem to match each other.

jaehyun didn't even know her well enough for her to break his heart, honestly. jaehyun had liked her even before having a proper conversation with her. he knew how left out she felt in her own body. even though he couldn't imagine a more gorgeous girl, he knew that she didn't feel that way about herself.

he knew that she always compared herself to her friends. her well-accomplished, 'main character' best friends who were the talk of the school. and her. no matter how intelligent or kind or put together she was, no one really looked at her the way that jaehyun did. she knew it.

even jaehyun couldn't place why he liked her so much. maybe it was the fact that he was somehow comforted that a girl with so much beauty could feel the same way as him. maybe it was the fact that she had always held the same smile for him, regardless of what he looked like. or maybe it was even the fact that one time, she had held his hand as she pulled him across the street, running to catch up with their friends who had already crossed.

jaehyun just remembers looking at her dyed cherry red hair falling into her eyes as she laughs, pulling him forward to where the rest of their friends were standing. and as he breathes in the smoke in the air and the raspberry scent of her perfume, he just knows that he really, truly likes gianna lee.

gianna lee doesn't like him the way that he likes her. he knows that. logically, jaehyun knows that his feelings are truly unfounded. he really has no reason to like gianna the way that he does. and yet, there's a part of him that holds onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, she'll turn around with those big eyes and upturned lips and say that she likes him the way that he likes her.

so he continues to look at her first when he makes the friend group laugh. he always slips her a napkin when he's getting one for himself when they're out getting milkshakes. he offers to help her with apush when she's stressing about a test the next week.

the closer he gets to her, the more jaehyun realizes that really, she was nothing like the image of her he had conjured in his head. she was every bit sweet as he had thought but she was argumentative, competitive, and all too obsessed with perfection. she always needed to be right in an argument, always had to win, and always had to make sure that she looked flawless doing so.

jaehyun doesn't realize it, of course. he's so obsessed with his glazed over façade of her that he just continues to let her win the arguments even when he knows that she's wrong. and she lets him wrap his arms around her when she gets an 89% on her test.

he lets her walk all over him and she lets him act on his feelings.

it was a toxic, parasitic relationship that neither of them were truly happy in. when gianna asked him out, jaehyun hadn't felt like fireworks were going off in his stomach. he felt like he had won a prize at a marathon. like he'd won a medal.

gianna wasn't a medal. she was a flawed, beautiful human being - every bit gorgeous and horrible as jaehyun and every other human being was. but jaehyun had won, hadn't he?

he hadn't. and it took so long for him to realize that by the time he'd realized that gianna had really only taken to him out of pity, he was so far in his own head that he didn't know how to leave her.

eventually, the summer before college rolled around and gianna had taken it upon herself to do the nasty deed of breaking up with him. it had been an amicable split, as far as their friends were concerned.

but none of them had ever truly either of their friends. so what did they know?

what did they know about gianna finding comfort in her ex's arms? what did they know about her grades slipping at the end of the school year? what did they know about her having to excuse herself at a meeting for her internship to sob in the bathroom as she realized the true fallacy in the way she had acted? what did they know about the way she had to reconstruct herself bottom up? nothing.

what did they know about jaehyun spending every other night with a different girl, trying to ease the ache in his heart? what did they know about the obscene number of hours at the gym, not sure how to combat the sudden numbness after girl after girl? what did they know about the fact that jaehyun could not physically stand the smell of raspberries anymore? absolutely nothing.

no one knew anything until jaehyun had finally come to college. it was once he joined the frat and met guys who were so alike and different from him at the same time that he finally opened up about gianna.

only to doyoung, kun, and johnny but people nonetheless. everyone had gone through something similar - while for some it happened at college or back home, they all knew the pain. some of them were more in the fault than others but pain is pain and a paper cut bleeds the same red as a gunshot wound.

which is why when kun sits him down on the couch and fatima hands him a cup of iced tea to save them all from the sweltering heat as august makes a last stand against september's winds, jaehyun spills everything.

gianna. his past. his insecurities. everything. he knows he shouldn't. logically, fatima had nothing stopping her from going and telling everything that jaehyun had told her to you, but for some reason, jaehyun thinks that she won't.

she doesn't.

+++

fatima knows that jaehyun was going to talk to her about something like this. it seemed that all of the nct boys came with some level of trauma like this. she wasn't sure what it was about every single boy she had met in college (although, granted, they were either her friends' conquests or kun's friends - a very interesting group of very intertwined boys) having their hearts getting ripped to shreds. sometimes it was of their own volition but they all seemed to be some level of hurt either way.

so when jaehyun spills his heart out on kun's carpeted floors, she's ready with a well-rehearsed speech. he's one of six boys she'd already had this same exact conversation with (kun has a bad habit of picking up strays) but when he looks at her with such raw anguish in his eyes, she falters.

she looks to kun, who's looking at her with the same question that she knows jaehyun is asking.

"how do you know when to choose between your head and your heart? because my heart is so fucking scared of getting attached to someone again. but my head knows that i can't push everyone away because i'm scared."

fatima is quiet, searching for the right words. she's about to say something when kun speaks up, looking determinedly at fatima.

"you learn to choose you. instead of choosing between your head and your heart, just choose yourself. at the end of the day, you and y/n are good people who aren't trying to hurt each other. you're both trying not to get hurt. and honestly, maybe you'll realize that you both are better off as friends along the way. maybe you just realize that you don't want to be with someone right now. or maybe you find someone who makes you feel like you're safe and loved when you're around them, whether you're in love with them or not." fatima looks at kun with a soft smile, reaching out to hold his hand gently.

"you have to choose yourself, jaehyun. trust me. the more you start thinking about what is best for the people around you instead of thinking for yourself, you'll look back fifteen, twenty years down the road and see everyone but yourself in your life. don't do something because gianna and how she made you feel. don't let your past define your future," fatima says, and jaehyun can feel the tears prick his eyes. he blinks determinedly, trying to make them disappear but when kun sits on one side of him and fatima on the other, he starts losing his battle against his emotions, finally letting himself mourn the innocence he had once had.

he buries his head into fatima's shoulder and for some reason, he feels as though kun and fatima would be amazing parents. because jaehyun doesn't remember the last time that he had felt this safe in an embrace.

"and jaehyun? the furthest anyone has ever gotten is five numbers. you're at three. it's your call from here. do what you want, not what you think you need to do." fatima taps his shoulder gently and lets him cry for as long as he needs to.

963-___-____.

+++

jaehyun gets the next number from you. after his conversation with fatima, he's sure that if he wants to go any further than this, he needed to talk to you first.

it's strange. he's earning your number but it feels like jaehyun's somehow earning himself back. and when he finds you again, he knows that you can tell.

even johnny could tell. when he had come back from his (successful) date with sia, the first thing he had said was, "wow. you look so...light."

jaehyun hadn't said anything but 'thank you' but it was enough.

johnny had just smiled at him and recounted the date, stating that he was going to ask her to go on another date this saturday night. jaehyun doesn't mention the fact that nct is throwing that night because johnny already knows.

and honestly, sia is a junior and johnny is a senior. they've been to their fair share of parties. one party being missed wouldn't be life changing for them. but skipping a party as the vice president of a frat and a girl who was sought after as a sweetheart for six frats meant something nonetheless.

he hadn't expected that they were to get that serious that quickly but it was a refreshing change. even fatima and kun were starting about talking about talking to fatima's parents to get their blessing for their relationship. her dilemma was no secret and it seemed that the conversation between the three of them had served to help them through their own issues as well.

there was just something in the air, jaehyun had supposed. august turned to september in the week that jaehyun had wrestled with himself, eventually leading to seeking you out.

it had been at the nct party, actually. you were standing with some of your acquaintances, all of your friends having dispersed to do what they were going to do. jaehyun had been on the other side of the room, convincing bambam that it was most definitely not a good idea to try and pursue soyeon jeon if he wanted to make sure that he woke up with all his limbs intact the next morning.

you had met his eye, raising an eyebrow before continuing your conversation, all thoughts of him seemingly out of your mind. jaehyun looks between bambam (who has gone from trying to get with soyeon to jumping into the pool) (that pool had not been cleaned in a full six months) and you. he just finds jungwoo, one of the pledges, and hands him a very drunk bambam.

"do not let him do anything dumb. i'm counting on you pledge," jaehyun called out over his shoulder as he weaves through people to get to you.

"jaehyun! hey! long time no see," hailey whitfield says, throwing herself in jaehyun's arms. jaehyun looks at you, where you're staring straight at where hailey's body ends and his arms begin. jaehyun tries to push her off of him. once upon a time, jaehyun would've been behind happy about getting with her again - she was so good with her mouth. but now, he has no intentions of giving you the wrong impression.

at least until he has a proper conversation with you so that you knew where he stood with you. and where you stood with him.

"hey hailey, sorry i've gotta get to my friend," he says, not even looking at her as he pushes off of her, resuming his threading through the crowd to where you're standing. you look at him, unimpressed, but jaehyun knows you well enough to know that three numbers are enough to make you feel a certain way if jaehyun was fooling around with other girls.

which he hasn't been. not a single night. jaehyun jung's bed has been empty for an entire two weeks, something that doyoung and nairobi have been taking full advantage of.

even some of jaehyun's friends had started asking if he was having problems or something but he had brushed them off. he definitely wasn't having problems, if hailey whitfield was any indication. but he felt like it would be doing you dirty if he had someone in his bed while he was talking to your friends about you.

so he hadn't.

he knows you know. he knows that you know he's talked to sia, roseanne, and fatima. he'd figured that you'd find out either through them or just by him. he can tell by the look in your eyes that you've read him thoroughly.

so he really doesn't feel bad about pulling you away from your friends, taking you upstairs to his room. finally, doyoung had promised that they would go back to nairobi's place on the condition that jaehyun made sure that no one would try to fuck on his bed. he promised, knowing that the only person who'd be coming up here would be him. he needed to talk to you tonight. if he knew anything it was that.

but once you're sitting on his bed, watching him pace back and forward, he's lost everything he's been wanting to say. where does he even start? with gianna? with the questions he has for you? with the number? where does he begin?

jaehyun looks at you, where you're watching him with a small smile on your face and suddenly, it doesn't matter where he begins. you'll listen to it all. he knows that much.

"why do you want me to work for your number?" jaehyun asks. you look at him curiously, tilting your head as you piece together an answer.

"are you sure you don't know the answer to that question?" you say, folding your legs so that you're sitting criss cross on the navy covers.

"i do. but i want to hear it from you, y/n. you know what all your friends say about you? that they didn't properly know you until a full year of friendship with you. but they said that you never lie. so i want you to tell me," jaehyun says, chest heaving by the end of his ramble. his eyes turn soft as he watches you become more and more solemn and he steps forward, sitting down on his desk chair and swiveling it over so that he was sitting directly across from you.

you pause for a moment, searching for the words before saying anything. "i've never been in a relationship before. so i don't have the trauma that could come from something like that. but i know what it's like to lose your heart to someone. and i know that it hurts. i want to be loved in the way that i never thought i could be. so the number thing is just an excuse for me to get to the point where i won't feel guilty about liking someone."

you shrug, smiling but not allowing the smile to reach your eyes. "it's a good way to make sure that the guy knows what he's getting into either way."

jaehyun nods at that. he knew that much. it feels different hearing it from you though. when you're the one saying it, jaehyun knows that it's real. raw. not coming from people trying to protect you because they know that you're far too soft to truly come at him guns blazing.

somehow, he likes it. he likes that you're much softer than you seem. that you're a lot more vulnerable than you come off as. and for some reason, jaehyun hopes that you never perfect the art of becoming standoffish.

"hmm. you've never been in a relationship before?" jaehyun says finally and you nod, shrugging once more. a shadow of bittersweet nostalgia crosses your face before you're back to your soft smile and guarded yet curious eyes.

"nope. part of it was on me; i've got high standards, if you can't tell. and the other part was that i've always wanted someone who fascinates me. of course, i wasn't all that appealing to men because i spent so much time trying to beat them at the only thing they were good at - ego-boosting themselves but they weren't interesting. none of them were people i really wanted to get to know," you say, unfolding your legs.

jaehyun likes the fact that the tips of your toes are the only part of your feet that touch the ground from how far back you're sitting on the bed. in an act of boldness, jaehyun moves forward to sit next to you, right where you're sitting. his feet are flat on the floor, he realizes.

he doesn't know why he's noticing things like this but he is and something about that frustrates him, frightens him, and tugs at his heartstrings altogether.

"you're heartbroken, aren't you? boys like you always seem to be a little hurt," you say, tossing the words into the air like rose petals. they're recklessly thrown but they're somehow beautiful in the way that blackened roses are always beautiful.

"yeah. i was. i think i will always mourn who i was before that. i was so naïve. but i'm not him anymore. and i think i'm realizing that i'm actually okay with that." jaehyun says the words just as carelessly as you do but once they're out in the open, he realizes that he's being completely honest. he turns to you with a strange look though.

"boys like me?"

you smile and nod at him. "boys like you."

you stand up, walking to where jaehyun has a corkboard with a shitload of scraps and photos from the past two years. you don't mention the fact that none of the memories that he has on the board date from before senior year. you don't need to.

"boys like you who've never been loved completely. boys who think that they need to listen to what the world says about how they should be acting or thinking. boys who are hopeless romantics but what would the world say if they knew that these boys just wanted a little bit of love? what would they say if they were looking for warmth in an empty and cold bed?"

jaehyun hates that you're right. it's the college boy tragedy. condemned to never be able to completely heal from one bad experience and then always breaking hearts to collect enough pieces to build themselves a new one.

he didn't want to end like that. even if it wasn't with you, he was ready to grow past it. he didn't want to end as a heartbreaker.

"boys like me...and you like a boy like me?" jaehyun asks. he doesn't know why he does. this is the first proper conversation you've had with him when both of you are decidedly sober. you want to deflect the question but if he's being honest, that's a sign for you to be just as honest.

"i don't know. from what my friends say, and what i know about you as a person in class, i know you mean well. and honestly, i've always just been the type of person to like someone past things like the books they read or the way they dress," you say, still looking at the memories jaehyun's pieced together over the years on this board. "i feel something around you. and i don't know you well enough to know that i like you as someone more than a friend but i'd like to at least have the chance to get that far."

that's all jaehyun needs. he gets another number that night.

+++

jaehyun waits for you outside of intro to east asia, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he waits for you to make it out of the classroom. you're the last one to leave, knowing that technically, you and jaehyun weren't allowed to see each other while he was your ta.

jaehyun had never really pegged you as someone with so much respect for the rules but you had argued that it was mostly about the principle.

he'd learned a lot about you that last weekend. you and him had stayed up all night, talking about nothing and everything under the sun until the sun itself rose, eventually falling asleep in a tangled mess of limbs and conversations.

he learned that while you didn't like the rules, you often followed them as long as they followed your own moral code. that you would die for your friends and that had landed you in many bad friendships when people would use that to their advantage before you'd met your friends in college. he learned that you were super close with your family, and that they were quite literally the best friends that you could always rely on.

and he learned that you wanted to see him again. on a date. sometime soon. so with no real way of communicating with you outside of social media (and he somehow felt like sliding into your dm's was corny and somewhat of a copout), here he was. waiting outside of the classroom like he was ripped straight from a 1950's romance movie. he even had the letterman jacket on to boot.

"oh my god, you scared me," you say, pressing a hand to your chest as you quite nearly bump into jaehyun. he smiles, readjusting his backpack on his shoulders as the two of you start walking.

"you knew i was waiting for you outside, didn't you?" he says, pushing the side door open to walk towards the parking lot, where he's convinced kun to let him borrow his car for the day.

"yeah but i didn't think you would be literally outside the door," you murmur, checking your phone to see the rest of your day's schedule. you had purposefully blocked off three hours of your schedule to hang out with jaehyun, which you were sure to regret later on when your organic chemistry class kicked your ass. but that was a later issue.

"well, i couldn't text you where i was so i figured i'd wait in plain sight," jaehyun retorts, opening the passenger door for you without a word. huh. that was the first time a man has ever done that for you. and jaehyun did it as though it were second nature - like it was a given.

you don't know why something so small means so much to you but you're alright with it. you're alright with just appreciating it.

"that's fair," you say. another number's on the tip of your tongue as you watch him get into the driver's seat but jaehyun beats you to the punch.

"don't give me a number. not yet," jaehyun says. "not that i don't want one. but i just...me waiting outside your classroom or opening your door isn't enough for a number. even if i don't get all ten, you've got to up your standards."

you don't know what to say to that so you don't say anything, turning on the music and letting the melody of chemtrails under the country club by lana del ray fill the rainy september afternoon sky.

+++

when jaehyun pulls up to a run down diner, you're pleasantly surprised. although you're not much of a sucker for romantic places, the fact that jaehyun is somehow makes you happy. it makes you happy that he still sees the beauty in places like these. and when you look over at him, dimples threatening to show as he breathes in the air of misty fog and the smell of milkshakes and burgers, you're so tempted to kiss him.

so you lean over, looking at him with a twinkle in your eyes once jaehyun has parked.

"can i kiss you?" you ask, mere inches from his lips. jaehyun just looks at you, and from this close, you realize just how beautiful his eyes are. they're dark, darker than anyone else's that you know. and yet, it feels like you could fall in and never regret it.

"please."

it's all you need. and it's all he needs because as soon as word slips from his lips, he's pressing forward, his lips against yours. he's soft, you register vaguely. nothing like last time. nothing like how he'd kissed you like he could think of nothing but absolutely ruining you.

jaehyun is soft. like the feeling of slipping a cold hand into someone's warm jacket pocket. he kisses you like he's scared of ruining you. ruining this. and you're absolutely addicted to the feeling.

the feeling of knowing that he could just claim you instead of trying his best to claim your heart. no matter how fucked up it was that you were even thinking that someone could 'claim' you. he wasn't like that and you could work with that.

he pulls away from you, eyes still closed as he sits against the drivers seat, his head against the headrest. you watch him, a silly and childish smile on your face - although you're not really sure why it's there in the first place. but who are you to knock anything?

there aren't many words to exchange as the two of you make your way into the diner. jaehyun had opened your car door again. this time, you just offer him your hand and you're strangely alright with just how safe you feel with his hand locked in yours.

the diner seems as though time has frozen still here.

and everything about the date seems the same. it feels as though time has frozen still - almost as though the two of you are in a little bubble with no one but each other. it's a feeling you haven't experienced in a while. a feeling you don't think you've ever had because of a boy.

it feels...almost scarily comfortable. it doesn't feel as though there are fireworks exploding for every word that jaehyun says. but it does feel as though that there's a hot mug of cocoa that's been handed to you on a cold winter night. and that feeling, the feeling of warmth spreading through every corner of your body, is the feeling that you know is good for you.

so you listen to him, watch him speak animatedly about basketball or a book he read, chin resting in your palm as you find yourself falling deeper and deeper.

jaehyun gets two numbers that day.

+++

it doesn't take much longer for jaehyun to get the rest of the numbers. soon enough, you're more than happy just to spend time with him the way that you spend time with your friends. you feel as though you've made a good friend out of someone you'd thought that you wouldn't even be able to get along with.

"you know, when i first met you, even before i knew you, i really didn't like you," you say, taking a sip out of your latte. the seasons have changed, fall giving way to winter. the november air bites your skin every time someone opens the door to the tiny café the two of you were sitting in.

jaehyun smiles, nodding as he leans back in his chair. "i know. i could tell by the look in your eyes."

"the look in my eyes?"

"yeah. the one that said that you wanted to get to know me. to figure out my deal even if you didn't necessarily want to find out for sure. kind of like you wanted to be the one that said 'aha!' at the end of a movie, even though you weren't sure of the ending at all."

you look at jaehyun for a moment before laughing, shaking your head as you laugh. "you're even starting to talk like me now."

jaehyun pauses before he nods, smiling with you. "yeah, i know. you've rubbed off on me in a lot of ways."

"i've improved your music taste, that's for sure," you snort, taking another sip out of your latte. "i still can't believe you didn't like ric flair drip when we met."

"it's not that i didn't like it and it's still not that i like it now. but i guess i just have a good memory associated with it now so it's growing on me," jaehyun says. your eyebrows furrow as you try to recollect what good memory he could possibly be referring to.

"oh my god. the night that we met! i was trying to get in your pants with ric flair drip," you say incredulously, shivering when someone opens and closes the door once more. jaehyun hands you his hoodie, leaving his arm extended silently when you protest.

you don't know why you still bother trying to protest with him when you knew you were going to lose. you put the sweater on as jaehyun starts talking, letting the scent of clean water and pine trees swaddle you softly.

"honestly, i think i was more than you that night," jaehyun says, as he looks at you with an incriminating twinkle in his eyes. "that was around the time that even taeyong said that he wanted to see if kun's vivid descriptions were true or not. and i wasn't about to let him get the opportunity to get to you before i did. i don't know why. i felt almost protective over you. but not in a good way. in the type of way where i wanted to show you how good i could make you feel - more than anyone could even begin to think of making you feel."

the previously cold café begins to become a lot hotter than you were feeling before, clearing your throat as you try to let the moment pass.

"how did we even get here?" you say, fanning yourself delicately. the move only serves to work against you when you fan yourself so that the scent of his cologne on his hoodie only gets stronger in your mind.

jaehyun leans back, letting you switch the conversation. he'd bring it up to you later in the night, anyway. besides, for someone who puts on such a strong front, it's honestly a little fun to see you squirm at the slightest implications from jaehyun.

"but, uh, jaehyun. i've been meaning to ask you something for a while," you begin, fidgeting with the wrapper of the straw in front of you. jaehyun tilts his head as if to question what you have to say as he waits patiently.

"what are we?"

now jaehyun is truly confused. was the past month of going on dates not clear enough? jaehyun wasn't going on dates with anyone else. oh my god. were you going on dates with other men? is that why you're asking.

"i thought we were dating?" jaehyun says, phrasing his sentence more like a question than a statement. "i mean i'm not talking to anyone else and i kinda assumed that since i'd gotten all ten numbers, neither were you."

you hum, unable to stop the silly smile on your face.

"good. that's just what i was thinking too."

+++

honestly, everything about jaehyun jung is appealing to you. from the way that he engulfs you in a hug when you're up late studying. or the way that he convinces you that you have a virus on your laptop just so that he could spend more time with you 'fixing' your laptop for you. or the way that he sits with you and your friends, patiently listening and offering advice wherever he can (or honestly, is just allowed to speak).

you're so glad to see him like this. as your boyfriend of four and a half months (you hadn't let him make it official until he was no longer your ta), you've seen him grow in ways that you'd never thought. jaehyun was every inch the stupid, naïve fuckboy you'd thought him to be in the beginning. and he was also every inch the hopeless romantic with a little too much love to give for a scarred heart.

so you heal together. you help each other when you quite literally can't handle the pain and together, you grow. he's more confident. not just in the way that he looks - but the way that he speaks around people. the way that he educates himself. the way that he communicates how he feels.

and he helps you everyday. he shows you what it feels like to be loved the way you love others. he shows you that you are worth the princess treatment. and most importantly for you, he loves the people around you the way you love the people around you.

kun and fatima find their happy ending. fatima had spoken to her parents and while they took some time to warm up to kun, his soft demeanor and the way that he loved fatima so completely and sincerely eventually won them over. fatima even met kun's parents with equal success, although kun's mother kept asking when fatima and kun would get married.

(their wedding was already in the works by both fatima's mother and kun's mother. you were beyond elated to go to both the traditional muslim ceremony and the traditional chinese ceremonies.)

johnny and sia ended up going out on a couple more dates before realizing that they probably just weren't meant to be a couple. they loved each other as friends and were probably always going to hold a special place in each other's lives but it just wouldn't be as each other's significant others. johnny was already starting to retreat from the frat boy lifestyle after meeting a girl at the library one day. and sia had finally met someone who could handle her crazy personality with a sweet smile, bringing her back down to reality whenever she went a little...too lively. you're looking forward to meeting him over summer, where the four of you and your friends were going on a vacation together.

roseanne, yugyeom, and miyeon still haven't put a label on their relationship. but you've caught roseanne falling asleep in yugyeom's arms more than once (one too many times than rosie cares to admit) so you figure that it's a good thing that they've all found each other. as unconventional as their relationship might be, they all mesh together so well that you can't even find it in yourself to question it. all's fair in love and war.

jaehyun and you frequent the diner as a favorite date night spot to visit, although you're upset to hear that they're remodeling the entire establishment for favor of a new, more 'modern' atmosphere. although how modern a diner could get was a little bit of a strange notion. but as people change, so do the winds.

and when you walk into the diner the next semester, hand in hand with jaehyun, you're a little comforted to see that diner is now a speakeasy (in true 1970s fashion) with three words written in blinding rhinestones against the velvet background. of course.

ric flair drip.

#jnnul #nct fic #jaehyun fic #jaehyun fluff #nct fluff #jaehyun smut #nct smut #nct 127 fic #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 angst #jaehyun angst #nct angst #nct x reader #jaehyun x reader #nct 127 x reader #jaehyun imagines #nct imagines

[shurisneakers]

unsolved (i)

Summary: Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or any shits left to give, to make things even worse. (Buzzfeed unsolved AU)

Warnings: swearing, frustrated bucky at his little shit supreme, Very Loud reader, images and memes that all have alt texts.

A/N: yes this is literally harmless in a different font. do not ask me if anything doesn't make sense. i cannot explain. i resurface every 3 years to present you with ideas born from menty b's. ANYWAY shout out to my beloved ryan and shane. pls enjoy <3

Bucky doesn’t appeal to the youths.

Apparently. 

On God, he cannot fathom why.

He had definitely left the house in the last six months, maybe. Smiled in at least two pictures that existed on the internet. He even knew what Discord was. Sort of.  

By all accounts, he should be treated as the modern day icon that he was.  

“The youths?” he repeats, the word so foreign on his tongue it felt odd to even say it.

“Your numbers are the lowest of the whole team.” The latest tech-dude, with a tablet twelve models ahead of the one Bucky had in his room, tells him monotonously. “Wilson, Romanoff and Barton score the highest. Everyone else lies around the middle. You are dead-last.”

Bucky has the audacity to look offended. 

“Anything to say?” Their PR head, Maya, asks him, amused. 

He stares, formulating the wittiest one liner he could in three seconds.

“I don’ care,” he mumbles. 

Maya sighs. “Look, the team took the decision together. As far as I’m aware, you are still a member. You need some PR if you guys want to stay in the public’s good books.”

“No one’s gonna listen to me.” Bucky wasn’t exactly the poster child for American values. He couldn’t even vote until three years ago, and that came only after the full wrath of a Steve Rogers descended on the email inbox of the DMV. 

“That’s why it’s important to get them to like you,” Maya emphasizes. “Or the idea of you at least. A very sanitized, corporate friendly version.”

His eyebrow twitches unintentionally.  

“And also you signed the contract.”

Well. Shit. 

Truth be told– and he has openly and rather loudly stated this on numerous occasions even especially when no one asked– he doesn’t understand why they need a PR team. The world has calmed down significantly over the last few years. Bucky hadn’t really been out crime-fighting as much as he was people-watching. There hasn’t been an earth-shatteringly dystopian-level event in the longest time, and there seemed to be a group of spandex-clad teenagers who seemed to do a good job at taking care of them when they did threaten to occur. Go kids.

Even if they needed PR, he could arguably understand the appeal of Sam and Nat and why the people would want to see more of them. Bucky, on the other hand, looked like he crawled onto Earth most days of the week. 

“What do I have to do?” he asks ultimately, knowing there was no way to get out of this. “Interviews?”

The intern shares a look with Maya. Bucky shares a look with the ceiling. 

“The team agreed to do a series of videos, each focusing on a different niche,” she begins, “Crash courses on science, pointing out mistakes in spy movies. Once a week.”

Bucky nods along. He can pinpoint Bruce and Nat for those.

Maya stares at him.

Bucky stares back.

“So,” she says slowly, like he’s a moron, “you would–”

“No.” 

The intern sighs heavily like they discussed that this was going to happen. Bucky was getting predictable. This annoys him even further, for some reason.

“Only once a week, and it doesn’t have to be anything crazy–”

“I’m not doing videos,” he interjects. “I’ll tweet a few times. I’ll even go outside. But ’m not doin’ videos.”

A big step was to get the Avengers off Twitter after the regular shit-storm that occurs every time they’d quote-tweet another politician calling them shitheads. Getting them back on seems counterproductive. 

“Fine,” Maya relents, looking at the intern. “We'll work something out.”

Bucky leans back in his chair, and meditating on ways he can weasel his way out of those too.

So they stick him in a couple of interviews.

Bucky, as the recluse extraordinaire that he was, does unsurprisingly terrible at them.

Variety does a piece on him that was supposed to take up 2 pages. They send back half a page worth of usable material and Bucky gets a lecture on how monosyllables don't count as answers.

He grunts in return. Maya’s itch to smack his shoulder with the rolled up draft increases.

They set him up for pap walks. Just him getting fast food for the team, or sitting in the park.

They don’t take into account that Bucky was trained professionally for years on how to hide, sneak in and out of places without a soul knowing he was ever there. 

The paparazzi spend three hours waiting for him outside the pizza place, while he’s been home for two hours with two demolished pepperonis and an order of mozzarella sticks. 

They give him access to his Twitter. 

He tweets some dumb shit and gets shadow banned by that evening. 

Maya is sick and tired, and the interns have shifted three times since the whole ordeal started. Bucky honestly feels a little bad. Maybe he should try to be like Scott, who not only wrote a book, finger-gunned at photographers, did an interview a week, but also agreed to a podcast and a video series about literally anything they suggested. 

“Play nice,” Sam tells Bucky one evening. 

It’s an off-hand comment, not even really looking at him while he says it. 

Bucky doesn’t need to ask what he’s referring to, but he thinks that maybe he has gone too far.

He begrudgingly agrees. 

Therefore, it begins. 

They stick him in the background of a few videos. Just to interact, add his commentary on what was going on, suggestions. 

Then the jokes really start.

“I just don’t got anything to add,” Bucky tries, in a failure of an attempt to justify his lack of contribution. 

Maya only stares at him, but Bucky swears he can hear her curse quietly, even though her lips don’t move even a millimeter.  

He is not put in another video. 

And so he finds himself here. 

In a meeting room that he’s convinced is barricaded from the outside so he can’t slither out the door again. Another intern with pink-tinted glasses that took up half their face.

Maya’s in the midst of explaining to him that sure, his numbers had gone up by a decimal, but that was because people had started editing him into the backgrounds of other pictures for other users to find in a perplexing take on Where’s Waldo.

“Videos seem to be working,” she ties it together. “But we need more than you just standing silently behind Captain Rogers.”

“But it’s working,” Bucky objects. “I don’t see why it has to change.”

Maya sends him a glare. Bucky decides then it’s good to shut up. 

“Are you on the internet a significant amount?” the intern asks. The glasses on their face have changed colours to green. Bucky’s eyebrow furrows. 

“No.” 

For the next thirty minutes, he is subjected to a pop quiz about too many words ending with ‘core’, ‘coded’ and ‘eras’. He’s surprised that he knows what cottagecore is. He definitely doesn’t fucking know what a tomatogirl, nor does he want to. 

“What do you like doing?” the intern enunciates, pulling up a spreadsheet of niches that had built a dedicated community around themselves over the years. “Makeup? Cleaning? Parkour?”

Bucky wonders if they’d really create a montage of him just micro cleaning the kitchen every week. It doesn’t sound half bad. 

Beyond that, the only thing he can think of is woodworking, which Sam introduced him to. While he spends time creating little figures, he wouldn’t say it was– 

“You really are dead silent,” the intern breaks his train of thought, tone almost that of wonder. “Guess the whole ‘ghost story for seventy years’ is more true than I thought.”

Bucky throws him a weary look, and works on unclenching the fist that tightened involuntarily. 

“Was that necessary?” Maya’s voice comes coldly. “Take fifteen. Go find the other one we were supposed to meet.”

While sheepish and somewhat apologetic, the kid still looks relieved to be out of there. To be honest, Bucky isn’t really offended– he’s grown a thick skin over the years. But he also thought the guy was a little shit now. 

Maya turns back to him, but Bucky finds that the table contains wonders far more interesting than the conversation at hand.

“Back to what we were talking about.” She ruffles through something on her laptop. “Puppets? History?”

He wordlessly shakes his head. 

Been the former, seen too much of the latter.

Maya’s head tilts abruptly. “You like ghosts?”  

He wonders if the prior conversation had anything to do with this insightful question. 

Bucky shrugs. “Don’t exist.”

“Really,” Maya deadpans. “Aliens and multiversal baboons are fine, but no ghosts.”

“I’ve seen aliens and multiversal baboons. Never seen a ghost in my life,” Bucky argues right back.

“Other people have seen ghosts.”

“Good for other people.”

The door swings open right as Maya’s eyes narrow at him. Guess it wasn’t padlocked. 

“Whatever it is you think I did, Maya, I didn’t. I think,” you announce in a volume too much for a closed room, stopping when you see Bucky sitting cross-armed and looking delightfully disgruntled. “Oh hey, Barnes. Fancy seeing you here.”

Bucky had met you. The newest addition to the team that had made a grand entrance a couple of weeks ago. He thinks you stay on the floor below him, but he has nothing backing this hypothesis other than the disco funk music that had started appearing at odd hours of the night. 

“Please sit,” Maya cracks a smile at you that Bucky had yet to earn. “Sorry, I know our meeting is scheduled for later, but I figured we could kill two birds with one stone.”

You look between her and Bucky, who hasn’t moved an inch since you got here, much less even said hello.

“You must be really bad if Maya had to call me in,” you tell him outright. “I’m usually like, her last option.”

“Thanks,” Bucky replies dryly. 

“Look, here’s my final pitch.” Maya sighs, before turning to you. “You’re new, and we need something to introduce you slowly to the public.”

“Oh, am I finally getting hard launched?” You grin, and Bucky doesn’t know what that means. “Just imagine me kicking my feet, giggling or whatever.” 

“And he needs… an upgrade.” Maya’s thumb juts out towards Bucky who simply rolls his eyes.

“Right.” Your sight lands on him from across the table. “I’ve seen the memes.”

“What memes?” he grunts, because while the team had definitely seen them, it didn't occur to anyone they should show it to him. He loves them. Really. So much. Die for them. 

You only look too happy to pull out your phone and start typing.

“Do you know what skinwalkers are?” 

“No.”

“That’s what they say you look like, lurking in the back of all your friends’ videos,” you continue, swerving around your phone to show him.

Bucky doesn’t look impressed. He can’t say he blames them either, which makes him inexplicably maddens him.  

“At least they’re calling you their boyfriend,” you add, entirely unhelpfully. “That’s gotta count.”

“Right.” Maya clears her throat. “The both of you–” 

“Are getting paired together, I suppose,” you hum. 

Bucky’s eyebrows pull together. 

He barely knows you. Just a little bit on how you ended up here, that you enjoyed hanging out with the team, figuring out your place in the compound, and were seemingly doing a great job at it. 

You were… loud. And open. 

Bucky feels the compulsive need to compensate for that by doubling down on how silent he could get, as if the two of you couldn’t co-exist in the same space in equilibrium. 

Maya pointedly raises a finger at you. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

“For the right price, I will believe in whatever you tell me to.”

Her face lights up brighter than Bucky's ever seen.

“Great.” Maya slams her laptop closed. “See you later.”

Bucky’s left staring as she exits, not even throwing the both of you another look.

“That was quick,” your voice cuts through the silence. “What was that all about?”

 “Don’ ask me,” he grumbles, with a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what was about to follow. 

“Ghost hunting?” Bucky echoes a week later, as expected.

“Yes,” Maya tells him simply. “Two of you. A series based on paranormal activity.”

“I don’t even believe in them,” he reiterates. 

“That’s the point,” she emphasises. “Skeptic and believer. It makes for a good contrast.”

“Why us both?” He hopes it doesn’t come off as offensive. He just doesn’t see why he can’t do this with Sam. Even Clint, if a gun was really pressed to his head. 

“I’m new, no one gives a shit about me,” you say brightly and full of promise. “Yet.”

“Exactly. It’ll be low key. Not an overwhelming number of viewers, no expectations. It’s perfect for launching one Avenger and re-launching another.”

“Sounds rad.” You grin, leaning back as your feet rest on the chair in front of you.

Maya looks relieved for a moment that at least one of you was on board. “No promises on anything. We shoot one video, and if it does well, we stick with it.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Bucky argues. 

“Then you have until tomorrow morning to give us another feasible idea,” Maya dishes back.

Bucky retreats into his seat, arms crossed over his chest. 

Truth be told, he considered himself to be the most boring person in the team and though he had made his peace with that, he was sure thar bringing that up now would entail Maya shooting him in the foot.

“Fine,” he agrees and the sighs around the room are loud. 

He scoffs. So fucking dramatic and for what.

“Put her there, partner.” You stretch ungracefully over the large table, sticking out your hand.

Bucky eyes your hand. “Do you even believe in ghosts?” 

“I do now, yeah.” You nod seriously. “Love ‘em. Can’t get enough of them.”

“One video,” Maya reminds him as a balm. “And if it doesn’t work, you’re off the hook forever.”

Off the hook? Forever? For Bucky?

Yay. 

“One video,” he reiterates.

You roll your eyes before smiling when he leans forward to grab it. You yank it up and down clunkily. He blinks at you, letting go slowly. 

“Thank fuck,” Maya groans, head dropping onto the table. 

Your smile is wild. “Guess we’re doing this shit together.”

He doesn’t even have to look very deep in his soul. He already knows he’s going to suffer.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing!

to keep up with updates for this fic and others, please follow @shurisneakersupdates and turn on post notifications!

also i'd absolutely love to make this a community led fic like how harmless was! if you have memes or any paranormal ideas or just any prompts in general, please please send them my way <3

Next part

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #unsolved fic #winter soldier x reader #Winter Soldier #bucky barnes #bucky

[diremoone]

written in fine print | r. sukuna

moving to japan to get a breath of fresh air was supposed to be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made. it still may be, but now you’ve got a problem and you don’t know what to do about it. the problem? ryomen sukuna, one of the wealthiest men on the planet, being… enamored with you. you’ve come fairly far with him as “friends” while keeping him at bay, but after you both spend christmas together, you know that things have changed. and come the first day of the new year comes a surprise that forces you to face your bottled-up truth.

[ Ryomen Sukuna Masterlist ] | part three

w — slowburn, age gap, modern au, older man/younger woman, fluff, mild? angst, this time we get reader’s pov bc it’s time ;3, insecure! reader, self-indulgence, A KISS (but just one for now sorry y’all), reader and sukuna lay their feelings on the table (I’m sorry I couldn’t help but finally get to this part), sukuna gets kinda prose-y lmao, slightly unsatisfied with this fic but I hope y’all enjoy anyway, sprinkle of bittersweet at the end

God, have mercy upon my soul.

The dozens of text messages from your cousin have you sitting on the edge of your bed in absolute disbelief. You haven’t even had any coffee yet, or any sort of something in your stomach. It’s sheer willpower keeping you from throwing up the stomach acid in your belly.

But you do need something. You make your way into the kitchen and nab the biscuits you made yesterday from the bag they were in. You shouldn’t, but you eat all four of them anyway. Then you drink something.

You were wondering why everything was going too good, why life had been so… easy as of late. Now you understood why. It was the calm before the storm. It was the universe allowing you to have some semblance of peace before it decided to throw you into the pit of mental and emotional turmoil that you’d been so great at avoiding.

Why in the world did the universe decide to put Ryomen Sukuna into your life?

That’s the question you have been asking yourself over and over again ever since you decided to take him up on the offer of a first date six months ago. Even worse, why did you even think it was a remotely good idea to get involved with someone over ten years older than you? Universe aside, you should’ve had the good judgement to keep Sukuna away. Your good intuition was something you’d always prided yourself on, so why did you decide to even let Sukuna keep coming around?

You go back to your room and get the phone, rereading over the messages. One in particular your eyes stay on:

A benefactor has paid for nana’s care and set her up in a really fancy, upscale care and rehabilitation facility here. They came and got her this morning to transfer her. When I asked about it, someone from registration said it was a gift for you. Who the fuck did you meet in Japan? 5:16 am

And you know, deep within your soul and in your gut that Sukuna was behind this. There’s no one you know that has the money to pull off something like taking your grandmother from where she was to a facility where she’s going to get more constant help, cleaned, proper rehabilitation. No one else but him.

The coffee maker suddenly beeps, beginning to brew a fresh pot of coffee. You almost jump out of your skin from it. You wait until it’s done before digging out one of the banana nut muffins Shoko brought over two nights ago to pre-celebrate the new year.

You truly don’t know what to feel. You’re unsure about everything. Coming to Japan to get a breath of fresh air from the strain your old life was supposed to be one of the best choices you’ve ever made. But now, all it’s become is a whirlwind of even more, even deeper emotional confusion.

Meeting Yuuji was great. Meeting his older brother? The entire source of the emotional confusion.

You lean against the counter and gaze outside. The snow has finally ceased and you’re sure dozers are out clearing the roads. You can’t help but fall into your thoughts.

For awhile, you’ve had… feelings. You’re not quite sure what they are, but you know that they revolve around the older, rich man you’ve befriended. You know that whenever he’s around, you feel more… open, lighter even. You know he makes you feel flustered, to which you’ve learned to seal said fluster inside of a bottle and remain indifferent in his presence. Every time he looks at you or speaks to you, it makes you feel… giddy. Happy, dare you say it.

And it’s something you swallow down and hide every time it bubbles to the surface, fearing that it’ll be nothing more than the same story as your mother: a heart broken by the letdown of not ever being enough, not being what the man actually wanted, and not being genuinely cared for.

The mug of coffee in your hands grows hot, almost scalding against the skin of your palms. It brings you out of your own mind, just in time to hear your phone vibrate with more text messages, all still from your cousin.

Because apparently fate dropped a man in your lap that was more than ready to give you anything and everything you’ve ever wanted: unconditional love on a gold platter; fate decided that you finally deserve a break from strife and grief, that you deserved to stop eating humble pie, because lord knows you’ve done choked and damn near suffocated on that shit; that you deserved to be cherished and loved and made to be someone’s number one in their life.

You know. You fucking know what Sukuna does to you, how he makes you feel inside. You also know how he wants to treat you and the things he wants to do to you. And perhaps with you, if your gut instinct is right and he wants more than a body to warm his bed.

Who are you kidding? You know you’re right.

But it’s unfortunate for you that all you’ve learned to do is bottle up your feelings and act like they don’t exist. Because you’ve never been loved, not romantically anyway. Especially not like this, from someone like this.

How were you supposed to love? What did it really mean to be in a relationship? You’ve never been in one. Not one that ever really was going to go as far as this. Was what you were feeling all temporary? And if you did get into a relationship, what if he didn’t like you when you got comfortable? What if he didn’t like it when you laughed too hard, or any of the habits you have? What if he was just wanting to play savior and ended up leaving you a few months from now?

You toss your head back and groan. Why? Why was this happening to you?

You opt to spend the day inside, rather than go out like you had planned. You have to text Shoko and Utahime, letting them know that you’re not going to be able to participate in their plans of going out and visiting shrines for the new year. The latter is reasonably mad, but Shoko calms her down in the group chat. Although she does make an innuendo about spending the day with someone else “cozied up in bed” rather than them. You send her a side eye emoji in return on her personal thread.

You change out of your pajamas and into some casual clothes — a dark red long sleeve and some black sweatpants, switching to house socks to regular socks — despite not intending to go out for the day. You do end up on the couch for most of the day, switching your attention from the TV and the messages on your phone more than you care to admit. You hardly eat, and don’t realize it until you can feel your stomach against your spine each time.

All day is basically wasted in front of the television, trapped in your own mind. Trapped in the whirlwind that Sukuna has made of your heart and emotions.

You graze through your entire stock of sweets in less than a day, uncaring if it was unhealthy. Dusk settles on the horizon before you know it and you’re anything but tired. In fact, you’re wide awake.

“What do I do…?” you ask into the open air. You feel stupid doing it, but apparently fate has a response for you.

It’s 9:18 at night when several strong knocks rap at your door.

It’s 9:20 when you decide to finally answer the door.

It’s 9:24 when you realize you’ve got a guest at the front door, the very same man who’s been making you question yourself and your whole life ever since coming to this country.

It’s 9:30 when you question to yourself why you let him in. You didn’t think it through, that much you’re sure of. How could you be when he’s thrown your heart all topsy-turvy and mushed it into goo?

Just looking at him from his back floods your mind and makes your heart race, something you hope you’re able to hide by what you hope is a face of indifference and calmness. You can see the tattoos peek out from his turtleneck, and you have to gulp down your nervousness.

The large mug of fruity tea you’ve poured has now chilled, the ice just barely clinking in the glass. You quickly open the cookie jar on the counter and shove two snickerdoodles in your mouth to stress-eat being prepared for what was coming next.

“I…” you begin, and embarrassingly realize you have to swallow the cookies to talk. “I wasn’t expecting you to… show up.”

Sukuna’s silent for a moment, then replies stoically, “Neither was I.”

You gaze at him longer than you intend to. Your attention is mostly on his tattoos, the little bits that are peeking out from the deep crimson of his form-fitting turtleneck. You watch him readjust the watch on his wrist, partially revealing the tattoo inked onto his wrist. To your surprise, Sukuna actually doesn’t like showing off his tats. He used to in his younger years; he’s still proud of them, but he isn’t as much into flaunting them to the world nowadays.

Sukuna’s deep voice cuts through the air. “Have you… gotten my gift?”

You bite your lower lip. You nod even though he can’t see you. “Yeah… If you mean the one involving my grandmother, then yes.”

“I do apologize if I crossed any lines doing such a thing,” he says. “But I don’t regret it.”

“I can imagine you don’t,” you reply, knowing full-well that him regretting anything was a very rare occurrence. “But… Why? Why would you do that? Go through such trouble to help me… and my family? Just… Why?”

His ginormous frame turns to face you to look into your eyes and answer with nothing short of honesty, “Because I want you to be cared for. I’ve seen happiness in your eyes and I want to keep you happy. I want to be the one making you happy.”

“Buying my love will only get you so far,” you say.

“I know. I want to do more for you. I want… to be more for you. Not just… this. Whatever we have going on,” Sukuna admits casually, crossing his burly arms over his chest. But he doesn’t make eye contact. In fact, he keeps his eyes to the floor, away from your gaze. “I know what I want, although I’m not quite sure how to describe everything I feel… when I’m with you and when I think about you. It’s… I know what it is, I’m pretty sure, but at the same time… I don’t.”

“It’s new for you,” you mumble. Surprisingly, he actually hears you and nods. He doesn’t lie. Not with you.

“I’ve been with many women over the years, all for the same reason. I’ve never felt like falling in love or that it would ever matter. I know lust, I know what comes with that. With you, it’s anything but. At first, yes. But your immediate rejection, you continuing to keep your distance from me and your distaste known made me stop and think.”

You raise your brows. “All it took was a girl with some strong boundaries to make you realize you can’t live off being just horny for then rest of your life?”

Sukuna laughs. He actually laughs. A bright smile crosses his handsome face as his shoulders shake with laughter. He tries to cover it up with a hand, but all it does it muffle it into loud chuckles. It takes a good couple minutes before his chuckles finally fall into a simple smile of amusement. That’s when you admit your own truths. If you were going to be hurt, you might as well get it over with.

“In a way,” Sukuna admits. And then he admits even more, opening his heart and putting it on his sleeve. “You’ve reminded me that there is more to life, that I can be genuinely happy beyond office walls and red light districts. You have made me remember what feeling excited, what being on my toes feels like. You make the air lighter… happier, every time I see you. You… I care for you.”

Sukuna’s last words of admission are watered-down and you both know it. Then again, he says he is new to these kinds of feelings. And at this point, you believe him. You wonder if he knows that you’re just like him — exactly the same: that you’re new to the feelings of love, what it means to be in love. It’s confusing, really. You’re not sure where to begin when it comes to saying the things that Sukuna has seemingly had no problem admitting to you. You can’t just say, “Ditto” and make out with him.

Well, you could, but that’s beside the point.

You swallow the frog in your throat and look at him. He isn’t looking at you but at the ground, almost like he’s unsure of himself.

“You’ve made yourself a cozy place inside me, too,” you speak softly. Your hands don’t leave the mug as you set it on the counter. “We’ve only known each other for barely half a year, you know? You make me wonder if what I’m feeling is love, most of the time. I enjoy you; I enjoy your company. I enjoy the thrill you bring into my life. I… enjoy how weightless you make the world feel. I… I like the thought of being… prioritized. I’m just… confused on whether or not these feelings are rooted in love or something else entirely.”

“And I apologize for making you feel that way,” he replies. “That isn’t my intention.”

You’re quick to your words before he can continue. “Don’t apologize. Please. It’s not your fault. I… I’ve never been in a relationship. I don’t know what love is or what it’s supposed to feel like. I’ve never been loved, and I’m not quite sure how to reciprocate it. I’m afraid I’ll fuck up. Say the wrong thing, not do something right.”

Sukuna’s brows furrow. “There is no right or wrong way to be in a relationship — just yourself.”

“I’ve heard that, just as much as I’ve heard otherwise.”

Silence fills your apartment. You tap your nails against the glass mug, little tinks! resounding. You can’t look at Sukuna now. Not after just admitting to having never been in a romantic relationship. Now, you must seem more of your age than you ever have in his eyes.

“Any insecurity you have is not invalid. I would never disrespect them,” Sukuna finally says, sheer conviction making you shiver.

The giant man stands to take his place not even a foot from you. Magnetism draws you to his face and you cannot look away. His hand comes up and brushes his large fingers across your cheek.

And like an open book, he reads you from the front cover to the very last word, reading off your exterior cover and the interior pages you’ve hidden away. “You’ve carved yourself from early maturity, into someone that your loved ones have needed you to be. You’ve never been able to truly be yourself, be free. You’ve always had to be the rock that everyone has needed, when no one has been for you. You desire to be loved, but not at the expense of heartbreak nor sacrificing the person you’ve molded yourself into for the people you love. You desire to be free above all else, not wanting to be loved unless there’s someone who can love you and give you your freedom at the same time.”

You gape, eyes almost as wide as saucers with your eyelids lined with burning tears. You dip your head and sniffle.

“I want that. I want that for you. I want to be the one to give that to you,” Sukuna continues. “The time we spent together not even a week ago, I want more of that. I no longer want to live the way I’ve been living. I want to live with you, do those kinds of things with you. That sounds corny as fuck coming from me of all people, but that’s the truth.”

You can’t help but laugh. His tone of exasperation at himself was just too funny not to.

“And what happens when you give me those things? Will you be done with me? Move on to the next person?” you ask. “Once you’ve played the part of the savior, won’t those feelings end?”

“I’ll never be done with you,” he answers instantaneously, like it was nothing short of law. “You’ve captivated me, all of me. I’ve already tried pulling myself away a multitude of times. But then one little word of anything about you and you’re all I think about for the rest of the day.”

You sniffle again and laugh. “Did you practice this? You sound like a poet.”

“I can be one if you’d like.” You giggle at that. It’s silly, but you feel like Sukuna would oblige you if you said yes. “But I mean it, every word.”

You nod and whisper, “I know you do.” Because it’s the truth. He’ll never not mean anything he says. Brutal honesty is apart of Sukuna.

The emptiness of your apartment is deafening, it’s silence almost palpable to the point where you feel like you might being to suffocate. But large, firm hands cup your cheeks and bring oxygen into your lungs again.

His hands are warm, so warm. The feeling of being touched like this, so intimately, makes all the blood flow to your cheeks to the point where you think you’ll overheat.

“May I kiss you?” he asks, tone quiet, voice deep and baritone that makes shivers roll up your spine. “At least once?”

You can’t help but bite into your lower lip. The suffocating feeling has returned, just for a different reason. But your instinct goes first — action taking the initiative over the brain — and you nod once more, mumbling out a small “yes” that you chastise yourself for being so meek.

Sukuna’s free arm wraps around your waist and gently pulls you to your tippy-toes. You’re running on instinct, one hand resting on his chest, the other circling behind his neck, eyelids slowly closing as he dives in for the kiss you’ve allowed. And when his hand cradles the back of your head, his lips meet yours, and you swear to everything from heaven to hell that you’re about to explode and die in this man’s arms.

Everything feels like it’s on fire… until it doesn’t. That fire slowly simmers down to a gentle flame, one that brings a sense of contentment.

Sukuna tilts his head, moving your lips and deepening the kiss. You allow it, and it feels like the kiss has sunk to a new depth of desire. Dare you even think or say it be devotion. His lips are warm and sweet on yours; his kiss isn’t one of urgency, but perhaps the desperation of longing. It’s not slow and controlling, not greedy. Whatever this kiss is and all the emotions contained within, you know it makes you at peace and content.

Everything feels perfect.

You both part for air, lips slow to disconnect. You can’t help but feel slightly embarrassed being so out of breath, but hearing the slight heaviness of breath coming from the large man makes you feel less awkward.

“Thought you said you hadn’t been in a relationship before?”

Your reply is breathless, “Never have.”

“Then you must be a naturally good kisser.”

That makes you laugh. You press your head to his chest and giggle away, to which you hear what you think is a chuckle from his throat.

It’s 11:20 at night by the time you look at the clock again. It’s too late for Sukuna to go home. That’s the excuse you use anyway. He’s seemingly more than happy to use the excuse right along with you to spend a night with you.

Come morning, however, things shift back to the way they were before: confusing and lonely. The couch was just as empty as the apartment. Under you was not Sukuna’s body, but a stack of pillows from your bedroom.

The note on the counter about being called in for an important meeting doesn’t do his absence justice either, instead sending every one of your walls back up, twice as high and just as thick as they were before.

Your phone dings with new messages. Utahime and Shoko, both of which declare they’re coming over to drag your ass out of your apartment to go shopping like you should’ve yesterday.

You text them back, telling them you’ll meet them at the mall, that you’re going to get ready and this time you aren’t going to miss out.

You don’t know what to do or what to think. You don’t know if one night of vulnerability means anything more than just being open with another human being. All you know is that you need a break, from yourself, your confusion, from life, and especially from Sukuna.

You need the clarity of a shopping trip and good friends for company, because your hopes for what’s coming next are getting far too high and you’re beginning to really fall in love with Sukuna Ryomen.

taglist: (no longer adding)

@vagabond-umlaut | @poe-daydreams | @heresan @thedovahqueen | @lotus-n-l0ve | @chiyoso | @miraclecherryblossomsblog | @unbreakableblueheaven | @marscatbutler | @vanillabloo | @wo-ming-bai | @visionsofmagic | @tohsri | @yuujispinkhair | @lilacliliess | @bub-ss

#sukuna x reader #sukuna ryomen x reader #sukuna ryomen x you #sukuna x you #sukuna x y/n #modern! sukuna #modern! au #jjk sukuna #sukuna fluff

[jacaerysgf]

i just found out my boyfriend is a werewolf?!?!

summary: You overhear a super strange conversation between your long term boyfriend and brother.

r.q: hiii :) i LOVE your blog and fics and was wondering if you would consider writing a fic were jace is a werewolf. I don't have any particular trops in mind, ill let your Imagination run free. love you and take care 💞🫶🏻

w.c: 1.5k

cw: modern/supernatural (not the show) au, college cregan and jace, cregan’s twin!reader gn!reader, werewolf! cregan and jace, sort of a crack fic idk but not really, cliche werewolf i didnt try to do anything crazy with it, semi dialogue heavy, idk this ones just a fluff stupid fic

a.n: needed a cleanser from my longer fic so take this !! i tried to have fun with this and didn’t want to take it too seriously so i hope you guys like it!! LOVE UUU

Its been a week since you’ve spoken to your boyfriend. Its not your fault. What are you supposed to do when you overhear a conversation like that?

About a week ago you had gotten out of class early and you knew jacaerys was at your brothers place so you decided to pick up lunch for all three of you to surprise them. You try your best to quietly open the door and step in, opening your mouth to call to them but you shut your mouth quickly hearing your boyfriend Jace.

“You can’t tell them.” This has you curious but more so a little angry. you didn’t peg jacaerys for the type to do shit behind your back but you never really know. So you instead quickly move to stand hidden from view to listen to them.

“You can’t hide this type of thing from them man, what the hell are they gonna think when they find out.”

“they won’t”

You hear your brother let out a big groan, “They needs to know Jace they’re my fucking family im not gonna let you play around with them.”

Jacaerys voice changes and he starts to sound more angry, “You know im completely serious about them cre.”

“Then tell them you're a fucking werewolf.”

*……..*

*……..*

*…….*

*What?*

What the hell we’re they talking about? Werewolves? is this some type of sigma male podcast shit? or is he like into abo? You don’t understand.

“You haven’t told them you're a werewolf either cre.”

*WHAT?*

You almost pop your head around the corner to ask them what the fuck they we’re talking about because you could not wrap your head around what they were talking about? Werewolves aren’t real. Maybe they heard you enter and we’re trying to play a prank on you.

“You know i plan to you piece of shit.”

“Then don’t get on my ass about not telling them yet.”

“fine. but once i tell them you have to tell them man, i don’t like you keeping them in the dark.”

“i will i will i swear. You got a cover for this Friday?”

“Camping trip. Already let them know. Fuck i hate full moons man.” you do remember cregan telling you they we’re planning on going out for the whole weekend on a camping trip. You don’t like camping so you said no when he asked if you wanted to come, you thought he had a weird face on after you said no but now you’re thinking it was a face of relief.

They seemingly switch topic talking about what they were planning on eating and you look back at your car you can see from the window and remember you left the food in there. You can’t just enter now?! you have to leave, so once again you slowly leave the house praying that they had no clue you were there. You get back to your car and take your food from the bag before you walk the takeout bag to the door and leave it at the doorstep before running back to your car and driving off.

You only pull out your phone to text them you left them food but couldn’t stay to eat since you had a project to work on before you throw your phone to the back seat and let out a shaky breath. They had to be fucking kidding right? but for some odd reason it all made sense. Every month, and based on your calendar it always landed on a full moon, your brother and your boyfriend always happened to be busy and couldn’t be around.

Both of them are oddly strong, Your boyfriend often joked that he could smell you from a mile away when you asked why he never jumped when you tried to surprise him. when you went out to dinner with him on your first date you thought he would be a pretentious prick when he ordered a very rare steak but he just laughed it off nervously and told you that's just how he likes it. The more and more you think about him and his odd habits you come to agree with the disturbing realization.

He was a fucking werewolf.

It was easy to avoid the two of them for the first couple days. you had your own apartment so you didn't have any reason to have to go to your brothers but jacaerys was a lot harder to avoid. He would text you all the time asking if you wanted to hang or if you were free to go out with him and you feel really bad whenever you would say no or leave his messages unanswered. It was the worst when yesterday he had come knocking at your door. You didn't open it. Too nervous to face him. Your heart broke when you hear his dejected sigh before he walked away.

Today however he had not texted you at all. you begin to worry. You don’t want to break up with him. You love him, but you're not exactly sure how to approach all this. You can’t just ask reddit, hey, what do i do when i find out my boyfriend of two years is a fucking werewolf??? but you couldn’t sit still during class, Why hadn’t he reached out? he always says good morning but it was well into late afternoon and he still has not said a word to you.

You’re not paying attention when you leave class and end up running into somebody. Apologizing before you take a step back and freeze. “Jace.” He lets out a smile and a nervous breathy laugh, “Hi baby.” You let out a hushed hi and his eyes dart all over your face with nervous. “Come.” You can’t reject him when he’s standing right in front of you, so when he grabs your hand you make no move to protest and let him lead you.

Soon enough your following him to the park and gasp when you see a set up picnic table, he turns to you nervously. “You’ve been busy recently and we haven’t spent a lot of time together-” You cup his cheeks and press a kiss against his lips pulling away and giving him a big smile. All the past days worried washed away from you as you admire you cute boyfriend. “I love it.” He grins and pressed a peck to your lips as leads you two to sit down on the bench side by side, he’s always preferred to sit next to you than across from you.

You can tell that all the food inside the basket is store bought but it doesn’t matter, he’s never been much of a cook anyway. After awhile you had even forgotten why you hadn’t seen him until he quiets down and looks at you. “are we good?”

“are you a fucking werewolf?”

He freezes. You hadn’t meant it for it to come out like that but how else do you word asking him something like this? “its just i heard you and cregan have this really weird convo and i started to think about it and it made sense, i don't know im sorry i just-” he shushes you lightly and cups you cheeks turning your head towards him. “I am. and im sorry i never told you, i should have i know but its a difficult thing to bring up.”

You just nod your head lightly and sigh. “Werewolves are fucking real.” He laughs, “Yes.” “is it like twilight?” “no.” “you didn't put like a mark on me?” “is that a twilight thing?” “Youve never seen it?” “i don’t watch things with wolves in them it gives me the ick.” “we need to watch them.” “are you even listening to me?” “oh oh is it like teen wolf?” “absolutely not.” “ugh wait you’ve seen teen wolf?” “baela forced me to watch it.” “is baela a werewolf?” “no a witch.” “ughh lucky i would love to be a witch.”

“You believe me?” You tilt your head at him, “Why wouldn’t i? don’t tell me your lying to me.” he shakes his head as he smiles at you, “No no its just, i didn’t think this would go over so well.” You give him another peck on the lips, “I just wish you told me sooner, asshole. and i wanna know how all this shit works.” “deal.” You two share another kiss and press your foreheads against each other.

“So if cregans a werewolf then why am i not?”

“Wait you know cregans a werewolf?”

—

a.n i realized its a little weird that they didn’t notice you were there because they have a good sense of smell but im just thinking they were too lost in the conversation or you are over to cregans place often enough that his place smells like you. whatever ! idk!

perm jacaerys taglist: <3

@tyronesien @itsbookworm987 @cruelworldlana @smurfelle @ireneispunk @hxtd @venmondiese @urmomsgirlfriend1 @aegonswife

#house of the dragon #hotd #hotd imagine #jacaerys targaryen x reader #jacaerys velaryon x reader #jacaerys strong #prince jacaerys #jacaerys targaryen #jacaerys velaryon #hotd jacaerys #jacaerys x reader #jace x you #jace velaryon #jace targaryen #jace x reader #hotd fanfic #hotd x reader #hotd x y/n #house of the dragon fanfiction #house of the dragon fanfic #house targaryen #jacaerys #modern hotd #modern jace #modern jacaerys

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Could you do some modern day Soda headcanons please? I love him so much and I love your blog so much soooooo….

Ok so soda is tricky for me to write but I tried my best!!!

Modern Au Sodapop Headcanons

-Drinks every single energy drink imaginable. Rockstar? Like its water. Prime? For the plot. 5 hour energy? He’ll down it in five seconds. Darry is HORRIFIED.

-Is pretty enough he’s one of those people who becomes moderately famous on TikTok without having to really do much. His followers notice he’s always talking to someone off camera, and they’re desperate to find out who it is, but Soda only ever responds to comments with ‘oh that’s just Stevie, he doesn’t like TikTok’.

-Soda’s followers have a lot of theories about this ‘Stevie’. Soda is weirdly tight lipped about him, despite the fact he often breaks off mid rant in videos to talk to him. There’s also the fact that the rest of the gang is often around/in the background of videos, but the mysterious ‘Stevie’ never appears. (okok I’ll stop here before this becomes a Stevepop social media au)

-Regularly forgets to take his ADHD meds and Darry often has to remind him

-Would either have a hockey flow or a mullet (whatever y’all think, personally I think modern Soda with a hockey flow tracks with his character)

-One of those people who loves horror movies but is also completely terrified of even the dumbest ones and has to sleep with the lights on for weeks afterwards. Steve makes fun of him for it, but will also stay up on the phone with him if Soda watches one by himself and freaks himself out

-Has a million fidget spinners because they actually help him focus on stuff when he needs to

-Soda in modern AU wouldn’t call Ponyboy ‘kid brother’ as a nickname (don’t get me wrong, I love it but Ive never heard it used irl). Instead, I think him and Darry (and thus the rest of the gang) refer to Pony as ‘shrimp’ and Ponyboy absolutely hates it  “where’s the shrimp” “he’s has track practice ‘till four, you of all people should know that Dar” (brought to you by me and my interactions with my own little brothers)

-The whole gang is super into video games, but Soda is kind of shit at them and lowkey grumpy about it

-Every teacher he’s ever had has done that thing where they expect him to be exactly like his older sibling, and therefore expect him to be a model student like Darry, and every time they are proven entirely wrong. By the time the same teachers see Ponyboy’s name on their class lists they’re terrified of what to expect

-He definitely had that horrible middle school boy stage where he just reeked of axe body spray and BO before he figured out proper hygiene

-Every two weeks him and Steve end up doing some sort of YouTube deep dive where they end up being convinced of some sort of wild conspiracy theory that Ponyboy and sometimes Darry have to spend three hours talking them out of

-Uses far too many emojis in texts

-He had a pet hamster once and you know that thing died in the most horrendous way imaginable. Two-bit probably farted into the cage at one point as a joke and the poor thing asphyxiated to death or some shit like that

-He’s that kid in group projects who does nothing and tanks the presentation for everyone by mispronouncing half the words on the slides some other group member made for him

-Him and Steve are so inseparable that when they’re not together people will be like ‘where’s your boyfriend’ and he just answers without thinking before flushing really hard and sputtering a bit. 

-One of those people that casually catches snakes with his bare hands. Steve HATES it and Ponyboy is TERRIFIED of snakes so he gets in trouble with Darry if he does it too often or brings them near the house

#the outsiders #sodapop curtis #ponyboy curtis #steve randle #darry curtis #two bit mathews #headcanon #stevepop #sodapop x steve

[dinitride-art]

Au fics that i think are neat and that i want to compile into a list because im trying to figure out how to comment on a chapter of a fic but i need time to sort out my thoughts (usually for fic recs i try to rec fics with less kudos/engagement because reasons but im just gonna throw everything in this list. probably multiple fics by the same author in the same universe because thats the one im trying to sort out my thoughts on.)

the strawberries are dying by eggowlss - historical fiction and very interesting character relationships and also character exploration within the time period. I really like this one because the pacing and tone are very gentle. There’s a srt of ebb and flow to the story that makes both the time period and the characters really fit into it. idk how to describe it i just like it a lot.

in the quiet of the night (acswy ao3 series) - they’re putting those characters in situations. It’s a very good time. 10/10 do recommend. If you haven't heard of this one though, it’s basically a modern au where everyone works at a summer camp and Mike and Will cause problems for themselves, each other, and usually everyone else around them. 

si vis amari, ama by perexcri - demons and angels and heaven and hell and its honestly just one hell of a story. like ive got vivid images in my head of scenes i imagined when reading this. 

you start to kiss (and the record skips) by eclipseadventure - this is a band au with a side of a secret relationship and im a sucker for secret relationships. a bit of drama/high stakes in here too which is always pretty fun. 

End Racism on the OTW! - you and me and the horrible teenaged ghost who keeps eviscerating himself in our apartment makes three by TheWrongKindOfPC - i am also a sucker for buzzfeed unsolved aus. buzzfeed unsolved, hauntings, ghosts, yknow the fun stuff. 

into the daylight by andiwriteordie - THIS IS NOT THE FIRST ONE, it’s just the first one that came up in my bookmarks. anyways, this is the second fic in a fantasy au series. The worldbuilding is really cool and there’s magic and history and politics and i like it a lot. the most recent chapter is spinning around in my mind.

the heartbreak prince by andiwriteordie - THIS IS THE FIRST ONE. 

beneath these boughs, my devotion blooms by perexcri - this is the fic that nearly killed me. i literally cant summarize it because im still recovering from what happened to me when i read it. Did i read it in april? Maybe. Listen, it had me asking questions about things i had never considered before. its 11k but im pretty sure it took me a good few hours to read because it made me think about it so much. again, ive got a bunch of visuals running through my head. its just... so much.

sweetheart, you're so cruel by perexcri - Mike’s in a band, Will’s a music snob, they’re both contemplating their life choices. very fun, very interesting, also made me think about some things. 

keep it hush by wiseatom - theres an amusement park and the horrors of customer service. and some other stuff but basically its pretty bright (the visuals of the fic in my head are bright- like sun glinting off metal- and idk how else to describe it)

the start of an age by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - this ones funny and serious at times and its got Max in it. fantasy au with prince will and knight mike and a secret relationship and a small scheme between three parties that involves a fake (ish) marriage. 

superhero therapy by silverluminoqity - spiderman au with a side of trauma and healing? it’s complicated theres stuff happening, i had a good time reading it. 

you've got this spell on me by andiwriteordie - this one was really fun. basically its a fantasy au theres magic and mike gets himself hit with a spell that makes him fall in love with will and will freaks out about it for a while.

Daydream by disaster_energy - i really really liked this fic. its a fantasy au and its got gods and stuff and will gets chosen by the moon goddess because hes Will and everyone is like... woah.

takes one to know one by andiwriteordie - i also liked this one a lot, its a superhero au and its got ironic (like... dramatic irony- i think is what im talking about? maybe? but like fun irony) secret identities. 

Love goes 'round by evil_ontheinside - conversations in a laundry mat. mikes flopping (as in, flopping around like a fish) around a bit and this was pretty cute. 

my promise could be your fiend (could be the smallest of signs) by s0ld_it - spider man au, theres a bookstore involved and a lot of stuff. ive read this fic twice and greatly enjoyed it both times. 

Tip-toeing on Lily-pads by cherryisgone - very very fun, fantasy au and... mike gets cursed to be a frog. can only be un-cursed with a kiss. 

filling in the blanks as we go by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - bookstore meetcute

there’s more but i spent all day painting my room and i am tired. Ive also got way too many bookmarks to go through and i have decided to stop here. still haven't figured out how to write that comment (but i am working on it because i love the fi(s) and ive been thinking about one specific thing that came up in a new chapter for so long). anyways, i hope someone enjoys this list of au fics from my bookmarks. 

#byler #fic rec

[lokisprettygirl]

Rain to his Fire (Modern! Daemon Targaryen x Female Reader) (Non Canon 80s Au) (18+)

Series Masterlist

Chapter 1

Summary: In 1985, you were assigned as a custodian in the King's Landing Psychiatric inpatient and wellness center after your mother's passing. Your job was mundane and boring, but that was until a new patient arrived, a young man with a wild and eccentric personality, harbouring a secret that will change your life forever.

Warning: 18+, discussion of mental health (it's a fic based in a mental health facility), the fic would contain several mentions of several disorders like mpd, did etc, if something triggers you don't read, smoking.

“Room 393 needs cleaning up, new guy is coming” you heard your supervisor Mona so you sighed and quickly nodded. Working as a custodian in a mental health facility wasn't ever really a dream job for you but you didn't have any option at the moment. Your mother had worked all her life for the center and when she passed, as per her request beforehand, the job was immediately offered to you, and you had debts to pay so you couldn't really deny that offer.

At thirty you didn't really see your life heading towards anything better anyways and you didn't really despise working here. Helping people feel good at times. Your job wasn't limited to cleaning services, you would often get assigned to patients who needed a caregiver for physical and emotional needs.

King's landing psychiatric inpatient and wellness center was a six floor building at the outskirts of London, it was established in 1955 and your mother had started her job the same year, it's been thirty years now and two years since she had passed, she was living nearby because she was married and had a child, you on other hand didn't want to travel back n forth so you chose to live here itself as a permanent live in staff of the wellness center.

You were accustomed to seeing patients coming in for various disorders, most were delusional at worst or suffered from some sort of dysphoria. However, the patients at the King's Landing Wellness Center were not usually considered dangerous and you had never felt threatened by any one of them except a few women who lashed out at you and pushed you around last year. But with time, you had learned to provide them with the care and attention they needed instead of judging them for the outburst.

“Are you listening y/n?” You snapped back to reality as Mona called your name and gathered your cleaning cart to go fix room 393, there was this girl that had just gotten released from the facility, Tanya, she was a shy, quiet girl in her mid twenties with a debilitating case of multiple personality disorder.

You mostly kept to yourself at the facility as you didn't want to get involved or too overly attached with the patients.

The moment you took the mattress off to deep clean the bed, you discovered a piece of paper underneath. Curiosity got the better of you, and you decided to open it. Once you saw the writing on the paper, a feeling of unease coursed through your body, the words seemed almost ominous

“They are going to hurt me. I know, I'll never get out of here, if you find this please make sure to check up on me please”

You sighed before you folded the paper and placed it inside your apron quickly before it would get lost. What did she mean you wondered? The centre was under the supervision of three doctors. Doctor Vis was a man in his early forties and he was the most feared of all three because of his unorthodox methods of treatment but the other two doctors, Lisa and Darren seemed more approachable.

As you made your way out of room 393, you saw Doctor Vis standing in the hallway, having a conversation with another man. The other man stood with his back against the wall while Doctor Vis stood uncomfortably close to him, he was handcuffed so you assumed that he was being aggressive in his therapy session, as you walked past them you looked at the man briefly and normally you'd have looked away but this time you couldn't for some reason, he had a shiny silver hair that you had never really seen on a man before and it caught your eye immediately. The uniform he had on wasn't a surprise as it was a dress code for the patients, a white shirt and same coloured trousers.

His eyes met yours briefly and he smirked so you looked away immediately ,

“You didn't tell me you hired such beautiful chicks around here to be your servant-” Daemon had barely finished his sentence before Vis grabbed his collar to warn him. Vis looked as you walked past them and turned to make left into the hallway, disappearing out of their sight.

“Don't make this more difficult than it already is you moron”

Dr. Vis escorted Daemon into the room where he was immediately uncuffed. With the doctor now gone, Daemon let out an angry roar before throwing the chair into the room's window, shattering it into pieces.

“New guy is here” you mumbled as you reached the canteen. The rest of the staff members, including those from the pantry and cleaning services, were already gathered at the table. Shyla, who was the same age as you approached you. But in contrast to you, Shyla appeared to have a backup plan in mind after her tenure here.

“Oh god have you guys seen him, he's really hotttt in a really weird way”

You gulped as she said that, she always lived on the edge, it was unprofessional and unethical to talk about patients this way. Besides, he wasn't hot at all.

“Cut out with the heart eyes girl he must be a cuckoo to be here”

Another woman, Dina , intervened as she whispered very quietly, you didn't appreciate her language but then she wasn't wrong, sane people didn't come here.

“Hey y/n, new patient broke the window in 393, clean it up”

Mona suddenly entered the canteen so you sighed but then you were left feeling confused.

“How did he break it? Those windows are supposed to be unbreakable” you asked her curiously as the windows in the patient's room were specifically designed to withstand extreme conditions and were built to be unbreakable for security reasons.

“Don't question what's and how's, do your job girl” she glared at you so you picked up your cleaning cart again.

As you entered room 393, you spotted the new patient on the bed, seemingly engrossed in a book. Your brow furrowed as you took in the sight of the debris of shattered glass scattered around the room. Quickly, you grabbed a broom and began the cleaning process, starting from the corners to ensure that you picked up every last shard. As you swept, you couldn't help but feel puzzled as to how the window was broken in the first place,

“You shouldn't be doing such things, they are not afraid of sending violent patients to the lone ward” you mumbled so he looked up from his book and then glanced at you from top to bottom before he let out a snicker.

“Awnnn do you get paid to offer advice around here or cleaning is your only area of expertise?”

You glared at him as he said that but you remained calm, you couldn't raise your voice with patients even though you had been wanting to do it for a long while now.

“Sir im just-” you cringed internally as you addressed him as sir, it wasn't a norm but then you didn't really know his name yet. He had changed out of his uniform so you couldn't even read the name tag.

“Do your fucking job girl and get out”

You cut back on your words as he spoke rudely to you, perhaps he was admitted for extreme anger issues, whatever it was you just wanted to get out and not see him at least for a day.

You missed Tanya, she was a sweet girl, and you hadn't forgotten the note you had found under her bed this morning but then she wasn't exactly stable in her mind, people often scribbled down their most intrusive thoughts in their free time, and there was abundance of that around here. Besides you had bid her goodbye, she had hugged you warmly and she seemed happier for once.

During the lunch service you saw his smug face again as he sat down in the corner of the cafeteria, his eyes met with yours and he gave you a small smile but you didn't return it. Though you didn't want to take his words personally, he was dealing with something and that's why he was here.

“Mrs Rodriguez, are you finished with your food?” You asked the elderly lady so she snapped out of her thoughts and nodded but as you raised your hand forward to pick up her plate she grabbed your hand,

“Simon thinks i should eat less” she mumbled almost fearfully and your heart clenched for her, Simon was merely a figment of her imagination.

“Well he's wrong because you are eating as much as you should” she let go of your hand and smiled as you said that to her. When you reached around his table you noticed that he hadn't even touched his food,

“Are you going to eat sir? Your half an hour is almost over” you asked him so he chuckled. New patients in the center had strict rules and regulations to follow during the beginning of their treatment.

“Who should I be asking around here for a smoke?” He asked you and your brows furrowed.

“That's not allowed, i will help you with a nicotine patch if you're feeling restless -” he rolled his eyes as you said that.

“I don't need that shit” he grumbled under his breath so you looked at the time. Looking at him you couldn't really tell what actually was wrong with him, well besides the anger issues obviously, he seemed almost normal, almost self aware which really wasn't usual around this place.

“Please finish your food, dinner service is around 8 and a man of your size won't get any nutrition from the snacks we offer during tea time” you spoke a bit sternly and the corner of his mouth curved into a small smile.

“What's your name y/n?” He asked you so you looked at him baffled, he clearly read your name on the badge and he said it as well.

“I don't know your name either” you mumbled politely so he gave you a smile

“Daemon”

“Have an easy day Mr. Daemon, first few days are always difficult” you ultimately grabbed his plate as you left because he didn't seem to be in any mood to eat at the time.

Around evening as you finished your shift you made your way to your room at the fourth floor to take a shower and relax a bit. You took out the note you had found under Tanya's bed and placed it inside your cupboard safely, a part of you continued to feel uneasy about this thing, another was thinking about Daemon.

Why was he there? What had he done? You were not allowed to enquire about these things unless or until you were told the information by the authorities.

Daemon couldn't really sleep at night, how could he? He was locked up in here and was being treated as if he was crazy but he knew what he was and he wasn't delusional about it either. Even as sleep came for him he had a horrible nightmare that had him tossing and turning in his bed again so he woke up and stepped out of his room quietly as the room was starting to suffocate him. That's when he found the window at the end of the corridor and that was all he needed.

Around 2 at night, you were enjoying a peaceful moment to yourself on the terrace of the building, taking a break with a cigarette. As you were absorbed in your own thoughts, you heard a loud thud sound from behind you. Startled, you jumped and quickly turned around, only to find the new patient, Daemon, standing there. You couldn't believe how he had gotten there, he didn't have the key to the door and you clearly remembered locking it when you had gotten in. The terrace was strictly off-limits to patients for obvious reasons.

“What..are you doing here, you can't be here mister” you almost sounded frantic and kind of scared to be honest. And why didn't he have a shirt on? It was freaking cold out here. And why was he so freaking ripped?

“Hooking me up with a bloody nicotine patch when you got this sweet thing right here?” he asked you as he approached you so you took a few steps behind you until you had hit the ledge. You quickly threw the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it under your flip flops before he could attempt to steal it from you.

“Now that's a waste of a good cigarette” he almost seemed offended with his brows furrowed and scowl on his face.

“Look, don't come near me alright?” You warned him so he crossed his arms and stepped closer to you despite your warning.

“I'm not going to harm you, I can, don't get me wrong.. but I won't”

Was that supposed to make you feel better?

“Please come with me, let me take you to your room .. please”

As he heard your gentle voice his teeth gritted together. “Please just listen to me ..it's only best for you” You brought your arm forward to grab his forearm but you flinched away as soon as you had touched his skin.

“Are you sick? You're burning like a furnace” You asked him worriedly so he scratched his scalp before he looked around and took a deep breath “And how did you get here?”

“I'm not sick, do I look sick to you?” He asked you so you shook your head but that was pointless, if he was a regular smoker, perhaps he was feeling the withdrawal.

“Just one puff, I'll be indebted to you forever darling, please, what do you want me to do beg? I can beg on my knees .You want that?..”

“Ohhh shut up for god's sake -” You cut him off mid sentence as he started to ramble but the stupid smirk on his face was still there. “I'll lose my job Daemon -”

“Nobody will know”

“I can't do it.. please understand please..”

He sighed and the pleading look on your face made him willing to listen to you ultimately.

How did he even come up here? You had come via the main entrance and it was locked from inside. As you escorted him back to his room, you mumbled a quick good night but he suddenly grabbed you by the shoulders and pushed you against the door, your heart was right into your mouth at the moment for several different reasons, you had been pushed over by several women at the facility but never a man, especially not a man like him who seemed so strong and so unstable. If worse comes to worse you knew you wouldn't be able to defend yourself.

“Daemon let go of me” you mumbled sternly but his hands were on your upper arms, holding you tightly still. He wasn't hurting you, not yet at least.

“Shhhhh shhh shhhh” as he whispered in your ear you were going to scream but nothing came out of your throat, not even a squeak, you feared that he was going to touch you inappropriately, if this wasn't inappropriate as it was, but then he placed his nose on the crook of your neck and took a sniff. Like a wild animal he sniffed you, literally.

One sniff, two sniff, and then one two three at once, you couldn't help but wonder why you weren't feeling as uncomfortable as you should have in a similar situation.

“What are you doing?” You asked him gently to not aggregate him so he looked you right in the eyes before he cupped your cheeks and stared at your lips, his nose rubbed slightly against yours before he closed his eyes, grunted a little and finally stepped away from you. His chest was heaving from breathlessness, same as yours as you both stared at each other for a moment. What the hell was that?

“Get out lady”

He mumbled so you immediately got the fuck out of there, you were looking behind every step of the way to see if he was following you but he wasn't. At the end of the corridor you stopped as suddenly, your feet came in contact with a piece of fabric on the floor, and when you bent down to investigate, you realized it was Daemon's shirt but it was completely shredded in several pieces - the same shirt he had worn this evening.

The realization left you feeling even more puzzled and disoriented. How had he managed to enter the terrace when it was locked from the outside. It seemed impossible. It was impossible. Or perhaps there was another way? Or maybe you were going crazy yourself? Now that was possible.

As your head hit your pillow you ran your fingers over your neck, right where he was sniffing, he seemed so...so primal in that moment, so animalistic, if that was the right choice of word. Did you atleast smell good? God you hoped so. Or not. He was a patient, you had to keep that in mind, he had issues.

The next morning while Daemon was away for his therapy session with the doctors you decided to clean up his room, he had left you feeling a bit unnerved last night with his strange behavior but you weren't really scared of him and then you wondered why you weren't scared of him after what he had done.

The iron bars on his window were the first thing you had noticed as you had entered the room. As you heard loud footsteps approaching the room you quickly collected your stuff to prepare to leave.

As Dr. Vis entered with Daemon he looked at you and spoke politely “Will you please step out ?” Vis asked you so you nodded immediately.

“Yes doctor, I'm almost done” you grabbed your cart and walked past them, your eyes met with Daemon and he seemed angry, but also really sad? His eyes were read and teary, such a contrast from his snarky demeanor yesterday.

As the door slammed shut, you found yourself in a state of morbid curiosity. So instead of minding your own business as you should have, you pressed your ear against the door instead, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside. Why did he look so sad?

“You had promised you wouldn't start with the absurdity right off the bat” Dr. Vis yelled at Daemon and that bothered you. Why was he yelling at a patient like this on his second day?

“Absurdity? You think me speaking of my true self is absurd?” Daemon asked the doctor and you didn't understand what was happening, what was he suffering from?

Dazed and confused as you reached the staff area Shyla walked around the table with a smirk on her face so you finally gave in.

“What?”

As you asked her she slammed her hands on the table in a dramatic manner.

“I found out why the new guy is here”

You weren't the one to gossip but you really wanted to know why Daemon was there? Why was he here? What was hurting him?

“How did you find out?” You asked her to seem disinterested as you didn't want to make your interest apparent.

“I have my source girl” she patted herself on shoulders so you crossed your arms together.

“Uhuh and what did your source tell you?”

“Well you're not ready for this-"

“Just spill it already” you chuckled as you spoke but the way she was stalling had only gotten you more curious.

“He thinks..now listen to this..he thinks he's a dragon” she mumbled excitedly so you stared at her all perplexed.

“What?”

“The new guy believes that he's a human dragon hybrid or something like that.. unbelievable right?”

Oh well!! That was a big problem huh.

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

#daemon targaryen x female reader #daemon targaryen x reader fluff #daemon targaryen #daemon targaryen x reader smut #daemon targaryen x reader angst #modern day au #non canon au

[theriverbeyond]

this is such a random question, but on the subject of theories i was wondering what would have happened if john and the erebos had arrived at the aftermath of canaan house before boe and found the non-lyctor survivors. like would he have just let corona, judith, and camilla go home or get rid of them because they knew too much? is “knowing too much” even a concern for john? for some reason neither option feels totally right to me, but i would love to hear your thoughts!

I honestly think he would let them go home! I think one of John's major flaws is he fundementally both misunderstands and underestimates the people he sees as "his", and I think this does extend into the houses.

I don't think he would see non-Lyctors as any kind of threat, even if he knew that said non-Lyctors had figured out the secret to Lyctorhood. At most I think he would sew their tongues but honestly I think he would take one look at Judith "on life support from catastrophic gut wound" Deuteros, Camilla "catatonic with grief" Hect, Coronabeth "inconsolable because Ianthe age Babs and not her" Tridentarius and be like wow! these kids are having a bad time I should send them home to their parents.

Remember -- if John had arrived at Canaan House before BOE, this is *before* BOE took out 18,000 soldiers with orbital radiation missiles. this is *before* Augustine's betrayal, and Mercymorn's, and *before* the Sixth House defected. The only betrayal John would have felt was Cytherea's, and she failed, and as we see in HtN he mostly pities her.

I do think this could lead to a very interesting AU wherein Camilla is sent home (with the bones in her pocket), Judith is fixed up with proper medical care from the start (and then packed back off to the cohort), and Coronabeth is probably (on request) taken to the Erebos with Ianthe.

I can see this leading to Camilla spending a lot of time trying to free Palamedes' soul while on the Sixth, potentially needing to join the cohort (Alexandrite Cam, anyone?) so she can reconnect with Judith, who despite having several sticks up her ass is the only person Cam feels she can really go to about this (due to them both being the only people left in the Dominicus system who actually know what happened at Canaan House). Maybe Camilla convinces Judith to poke around in the skull bones -- Judith isn't as good as Harrow, but maybe they do bring back some shadow of Palamedes into the bones.

THEN maybe eventually they run into Coronabeth, who perhaps was not allowed all the way to the Mithraeum, but WAS given some sort of very strategic and fancy seat in the cohort so Ianthe can keep tabs on her. A very nepotism hire situation, and despite Ianthe's desire to keep her safe Coronabeth HATES it all because she was once again left behind. When the opportunity to track down Ianthe arises, she takes it.

I see this unfolding over several years post GtN timeline. Perhaps the three of them end up collaborating with other characters along the way that they feel they can trust, some more likely than others -- Mia (Pro's wife) and her children, now grown enough to want more information about their father's death. Ram and Capris Asht, who don't believe that their brother would kill the eighth house heir he had sworn to protect. Kiana can get in here too. maybe the Third house Boy Who Loved Shuttles helps them with a getaway once. Abigail's younger brother, who she named as her heir -- maybe he helps with Palamedes' soul. Jeannemary and Issac's younger siblings. A neo-niner or two -- John renewed the house, and involving a character or three that was ressurected from our modern times would be super interesting and also fill out our merry band. Maybe the neo-niners Remember Things that make Cam connect some dots.

Harrow is still out there, obviously, and in this AU I am imagining Number 7 as NOT speeding up and really taking 5 years to get there, just to even out the time line and allow all that to happen before Number 7 comes and Augustine drowns the Mithraeum.

anyway. events occur, things happen, and intrigue abounds. Alecto awakens, Harrow Remembers, Ianthe doesn't get the girl. Cam is on a warpath. Judith is dragged alongside. Coronabeth isn't going to be left behind again.

what was your question again? this answer has gotten deeply out of hand

#ask #anon #tlt au #idk what happened to this answer anon. something posessed me #im rotating this all now.... #also forgor to add gideon's body to this... #i imagine she was taken and stored along w naberius' body #both put on ice. her incorruptibility isn't noticed bc they put her in the cav freezer. #etc. things happen

[hipsterfireshaman]

y’all we need to fucking talk about how deep the lore for Love and Deep Space goes. I’m literally crying after reading all three of Zayne’s Anecdotes back to back.

Spoilers for those Anecdotes: A Pure White Heart, Never-Ending Winter, and Still in Dark

A Pure White Heart is the account of an intern who temporarily gets to work under Dr. Zayne.

This is for sure set in the timeline/lifetime/whatever that we (MC) play in; Zayne is a renowned and respected doctor, with a cold exterior that makes it hard for people to see the utmost care and dedication he has for everyone. The pedestal he’s placed on as a top surgeon as well as his demeanor isolates him from everyone around him, and it takes a while and genuine effort for people to understand him.

(never mind how sad I got when everyone in the operation room was talking about a type of strange dish, Zayne pipes up with a joke, and everyone just froze—silent and unsure if Zayne was scolding them or something. Poor guy. I’ve got chronic RBF so i felt way too seen by this anecdote)

Never-Ending Winter is also most definitely set in our timeline with the Zayne we know. This anecdote sheds way more light on the Mt. Eternal Incident in the Arctic we as the MC heard about on our trip there.

I’m unsure just how much time has passed since this Incident to where we were in the timeline of going there for our reasons, just that Never-Ending Winter took place before the start of our story in Love and Deep Space.

Y’all the writing for these anecdotes is batshit, and I say this before even getting to the third anecdote. The dark shit that happened on Mt. Eternal rivals that of mainstream analog horror and modern creepypasta.

It was tragic af too, and all it really does after answering some questions I didn’t know I had about Mt. Eternal and the Incident, is give me more questions about what Zayne is doing back there after all this time. The end cutscene after where the story leaves off in chapter 8 shows him doing something over the ice in the Arctic, no doubt being the unfinished business he had planned when we parted ways. Is he excavating William???? because OHHHH BOYYY. Zayne was the source of William’s corruption? Which leads into the third anecdote and what it tells us about Abominations.

The third Anecdote, Still in Dark, is n u t s. Similar to the Little Mermaid-esque timeline/“Myth”/AU/whatever that Raphael has going on, this doesn’t seem to be set within our current reality/timeline/whatever(it’s so hard to say, with constant overlapping with others and questions left unanswered). Linkon City seems to be a thing of the past, and the way of life for everyone has changed in to something a little more post-apocalyptic.

Zayne is a serial killer who is hunted by a detective!!!!! LET THAT SINK IN. WHAT THE HELL. On top of that, he’s not killing people in cold blood like what the detective initially believes, but hunting down people that are turning into Abominations, a sort of precursor to Wanderers that may or may not be the cause of frequent exposure to Protocores. (source: the mother of Georgie that reached out to Zayne in fear of her fate after watching her coworkers change for the worst. We have to learn in the hardest of ways that it might not just be due to exposure to Protocores— that it might be contagious. Poor Georgie.)

On top of everything else going on, higher ups seem to actually be aware of this situation!!! ITS A GOVERNMENT COVERUP. THIS IS WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY IT RIVALS THE WRITING OF ANALOG HORROR MASTERPIECES AND CREEPYPASTAS.

Again, Linkon City seems to be something of the past—this Zayne seems to be connected through it through space and time through his dreams of a separate reality or timeline with MC. If this is actually the same timeline, and instead just way later down the line with some reincarnation shenanigans or something, something bad happened to Linkon City. The Abomination outbreak is reminiscent of the Mt Eternal incident and what happened with Zayne and William. Zayne was the source of William’s infection. Just what the fuck happened up in that mountain??? Not to mention the fact that in our current place in the timeline, Zayne is back there, POSSIBLY excavating William. What if he’s the one setting off the apocalyptic events that make Linkon City a place of the past tense? Chillsssss.

It doesn’t even stop there with the web of connections; something happens with Zayne at 27. The MC in Zayne’s dreams notices something is off with him. She (we) can tell it’s not Our Zayne. Maybe I’m just thinking of the worst case scenario, but what if it parallel’s Georgie’s fate. What if Our Zayne is the dream of the monster—the abomination, and it wakes up on that special day. And This Zayne is reliving it through time and space because it’s all just one big circle.

Beyond the Anecdotes and the current story, the Jasmine Flower that has a little cameo in Still in Dark is incredibly significant. It’s seems to function as a countdown in Still in Dark. To what? Who knows. Zayne turning into an abomination leading to the death of MC? A Future Diary’s-esque countdown to Love and Death?

But it stems (ha) from Zayne’s Myth: Tower of Secrets. I’m not sure when this takes place in the big ol’ timeline or whatever, but it’s seemingly the most detached. I’m only about 59% through it, but the fact that it’s in a very different time/universe/reality is clear from early on. Zayne is literally a cursed wizard in a tower and it’s giving Magic-High Fantasy instead of the usual Science Fiction-Spacepunk the usual story is.

I could go on for hours. Sorry if this seems like the ramblings of a madwoman. This has been the most consumed by an otome game I’ve been since Mystic Messenger and its cathartic and All Coming Full Circle for me. I don’t have anyone else to talk to about these things so here I am, shouting into the void.

#pls talk to me #love and deep space #l&ds #l&ds zayne #love and deepspace #love and deepspace zayne #love and deep space zayne #lore dump #otome game #dating sim

[the-head-ancho-chilli]

Demon Slayer Characters and if I Think They Can Walk in Heels

I SWEAR IM NOT DEAD

Now that I’ve moved into my new place, I’m just trying to get some stuff sorted out so apologies for the delay, I swear I’m working on your requests T_T

In the meantime, here’s this post that I finished a few days ago that I started during finals season

Enjoy!

Word count: 1.4k~

Part 1 (you're here!), Part 2 (coming soon), Part 3 (coming soon)

Modern au-ish...

Mitsuri Kanroji

She doesn't really wear heels unless she's going out somewhere

Mitsuri will wear heels if you take her to a club, a date, a restaurant, and any other nicer event

But honestly, she prefers running shoes!

They're convenient, comfortable, and they tend to match their outfits more often than not

Do not get me wrong, Mitsuri can definitely rock a pair of heels

I would say that the highest she can go is six inch heels and that's it

Anymore than that and she's wobbling

Mitsuri's favourite pair of heels is a knee high gladiator sandal that's all gold, and maube about 4-5 inches high?

It pairs lovely with her favourite dresses and skirts, especially when she's going out of her way to turn a few heads

I also think that she's the most graceful out of everyone here

Overall 9/10 she absolutely slays this

Obanai Iguro

He thinks it's stupid that he needs to clarify this at all

Can Obanai walk in heels? Without a doubt

Your next question should be if Obanai chooses to wear heels

And shockingly, he does

I think that Obanai will sometimes wear a two inch loafer heel just for some added height

Hella confident in them too, look at him go

Obanai will totally wear them to work, class, or anywhere he feels like putting on a little bit of effort into what he's wearing

I think on more fancier occasions, like a high end date or club, he might wear some pointed toe stilettos with a nice pair of slacks

Honestly he's not really one to exclude heels from his wardrobe, he's just weirded out by how fascinated people are on this topic

8/10, nailed it

Tengen Uzui

Do I think Tengen can wear heels? I know for a fact he can

But I just think that he never does because he can never find any in his size

Poor guy

To be fair, this man is fucking huge

I even have problems finding boots that fit my calves, deep down in my heart I know that Tengen has it so much worse

Cause even if he manages to find something that fits his foot, it might not fit the rest of his leg

He's actyally really devestated about it

All he wants is a nice pair of pumps to match Hina, Suma and Makio

And maybe a pair of lobster claws...

3/10, a slay in theory but not in practice

I WILL GIVE HIM THIS, if he manages to pay for a custom pair of heels, he will probably rival with Mitsuri in who looks the best in heels

Sanemi Shinazugawa

He says he can walk in heels

But I assure you, he cannot

I think that Sanemi is lowkey intimidated by the results of the other Hashira on this list and now he's in too deep to back down

So when asked if he can wear heels, he will lie to your face

"Obviously, you think I'm gonna allow a pair of shoes to get the best of me?"

Sanemi, you've got a big storm coming

All his machoness goes away the second that he puts them on

Why is he walking with his knees out...

He's not even wearing stilettos, no

Sanemi's wearing three inch cork wedges

They don't really suit his style so he'll never go out of his way to wear them

I think after embarassing himself like this, he's never going to want to learn how to walk in them

-2/10 Sanemi you fucked around and found out huh

Shinobu Kocho

Can absolutely strut in six inch heels no problem

I think that Shinobu wears heels often, especially if she's going to be out in public where she is certain she's going to encounter someone she knows

But I don't think she enjoys wearing them

In some way I think Shinobu wears heels on a semi-daily basis to compensate for her short stature

She wants to be on equal standing with others and in a way, this is her way fo tring to achieve that

Two inch boots aren't going to stop her from being taken seriously

She does try to find some light in her circimustance though

Her favourite pair are these cute mary janes, and she has another pair with a platform sole

So even if you see her wearing heels, please don't mistake that she finds them powerful to wear

It's more of a social thing really

7/10, I wish she had a better experience :/

Kyojuro Rengoku

I am going to say this as nicely as I can

Please be patient with him, he's learning T_T

He can still get to where he needs to go, he just looks a little unstable???

Kyojuro would really appreciate if you held his hand a little

Though I will say, he is enthusiastic about learning!

In a few months he can probably walk just fine in them

I don't think that he would wear them to work or on a date, but he might if he's going to a particular event where you try to look better than usual

Like a high end club or exclusive event, he'll probably wear something classy

I think his go to is wither a pair of corset heels or high blocks

Obanai is lowkey jealous because Kyojuro doesn't really need the extra hight

4/10, keep up the hard work :)

Giyu Tomioka

My first instinct was to immediately put Giyu on the 'Not Allowed' list

A hunch just told me that he would somehow cause more trouble if he wore any

But I considered it further and came to this conlcusion

Giyu can and will walk in heels, just nothing above three inches

He tried walking in four inch platforms and he was nearly tripping every two minutes

And if Tengen sees him exiting his apartment wearing them again he will not hesitate to put those things back where they came from

Giyu does like wearing heels though, even if he's not allowed to wear very high ones

Only wears them if he's going to a club though

His favourite pair is a professional looking pair of blue, beige and black slingbacks with a three inch heel

5/10, but he's walking on thin ice

Gyomei Himejima

I don't think that Gyomei could walk in heels smoothly, but he can certainly get from point A to B

He just can't do it gracefully

If Gyomei walks in heels, he won't ever admit that he's struggling and he'll insist that he's walking just fine

But he has his arms outstretched like he's walking on a tightrope

It's honestly just not his thing, and I don't think he would be able to incorporate it with his current wardrobe

Even if he had the desire to learn, I think he would hear the struggle that Tengen's going through and just give up

He already has to go on a lengthy search to find anything to fit him regularly, let alone a pair of heels

2/10 I can't say I would recommend this for him, no

Muichiro Tokito

You know those pictures of kids wearing their mom's heels?

And their foot barely fits in the shoe?

And they just look so awkwardly out of place?

That's Muichiro

Poor baby

I think he has some growing to do before he's going to learn how to walk in them

But Muichiro definitely wants to learn!

Given how his sense of style is usually baggy or loose fitting clothes, I can see him maybe going to Obanai for style advice in the future

Probably nothing high or flashy either, just probably a pair of classy heeled boots

I just don't think it's for him right now, at his current stature

Muichiro just looks a little bit out of place in them right now though...

1/10, maybe when you're a bit older buddy

꒷꒦˚︶︶꒦꒷︶꒷꒦˚ ꒷꒦˚︶︶꒦꒷︶꒷꒦˚ ꒷꒦˚︶︶꒦꒷︶꒷꒦˚

Thanks for reading! I have two more parts of this prompt with the slayers and demons so I should be sending that out in a while. I’m also working on a Kyojuro request and I’m hoping to have it out soon, so stay tuned lovelies ^^

Also thank you all for 200 followers, I swear I’ll work harder so I can post more often! I’ll be working on some requests in the meantime :)

Asks and requests are still open, just please read the rules before submitting anything ;)

#demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #demon slayer blog #kny blog #kny scenarios #demon slayer headcanons #kny headcanons #demon slayer x reader #kny x reader #hashira x reader #upper moons x reader #demon slayer scenarios #demon slayer upper moons #kamaboko squad #demon slayer hashira #demon slayer pillars

[queerofthedagger]

I went down an entirely unintended brainrot-rabbit hole today, so people might as well get something out of it; six quick and dirty oneshot recs, three for Arthur/Gwaine, and three with Merlin on top (ha), enjoy the chaos duo-slash-trio!

If All Else Fails, Lower Your Standards by giselleslash

[Arthur/Gwaine | E | 7k | Modern AU]

Somehow Arthur ended up Gwaine's full-time booty call, which was really rather annoying. Except when it wasn't.

This perfectly hits their dynamic on the head for me, and there is so much affection swinging between the lines that really is the crux of them for me; the way they will bitch at each other but really, they're in loveeee. Disgusting. <3

---

Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Dart to the Neck by Malu_3 (Grainne)

[Arthur/Gwaine | M | 4k | Canon]

A celebration of S3 Arthur and Gwaine, tweaked for shipping comfort and ease of use.

Both of their characters feel so true to themselves, and it's such an excellent take on their slowly developing season 3 dynamic. Not to mention that the pay-off is excellent, and Merlin deserves compensation for putting up with them. Top tier Arwaine dynamic.

---

Take Care (The Dart to the Heart Remix) by Polomonkey

[Arthur/Gwaine | G/A | 2.5k | Canon]

Arthur and Gwaine take care of Merlin whilst in Jarl's captivity. Merlin only wishes they would take care of each other too.

An excellent missing scene remix of the above fic featuring both buckets full of classical Arwaine tension, a dash of Merlin whump, and an outside POV on their specific brand of oblivious, pining fools.

---

With You I'm Warmest by LiGi

[Arthur/Gwaine/Merlin | T+ | 5k | Canon]

“It’s so c-c-cold,” Gwaine said rather unnecessarily after a few moments, when the freezing wind snatched at his hair again. He shuffled closer to the fire. But the fire and blankets seemed to be doing little to warm him and Merlin chewed his lip anxiously. They needed to get his temperature up higher, faster. “Arthur, take your clothes off.” “I really don’t think this is the time, Merlin,” the prince answered exasperatedly, shaking his head. “Body heat,” Merlin explained, already standing up to shuck his cloak and jacket off. The wind whipped the jacket from his hand. “It’s the fastest way to warm him back up.”

Hurt/Comfort, huddling for warmth, emotionally stunted but sweetheart Arthur, and a happy poly ending for all of them? Yeah. This entire fic feels like a warm blanket itself and single-handedly turned me into a whump!Gwaine fan I think, 10/10 no notes <3

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All's Well by arthur_pendragon

[Arthur/Gwaine/Merlin | E | 1k | Canon]

Arthur and Gwaine, both hopelessly in unrequited love (or is it?) with Merlin, use each other to get off.

I'm such a sucker for this trope and it just works SO well for the three of them. The trio is mostly implied at the end but I actually liked it best that way, it's such a great snapshot of the dynamic between Arthur and Gwaine, what's missing and what isn't, with the 'fix' mostly left in the air because really, they probably don't know exactly, either.

---

Playing Dirty (orphaned)

[Arthur/Gwaine/Merlin | E | 2.5k | Modern]

Arthur's not a prude, but he does think the number of times he's walked in on his flatmates having at it probably qualifies them for some sort of general obscenity charge.

While this is mostly PWP, it just feels SO true to the dynamic of Merlin and Gwaine being little shits and entirely making it Arthur's problem. There's bets about who will get whom of quicker. It's excellent.

#bbcm #bbc merlin #arwaine #merwaine #arthur x gwaine x merlin #merlin fic #fic rec #i did not have 'spend 4 hours in the arwaine tag' on today's bingo card but here we are. sigh #enjoy <3 #merwainthur

[corroded-hellfire]

Somewhere Between Edward and Dracula - Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Modern!AU. Vampire!Eddie. With Halloween coming up, a group of friends decide to see if the old Creel house is really haunted. It is, but not by ghosts like they assumed. 

Notes: I honestly just made this modern because I needed to make Twilight jokes. But it works, since Eddie says he’s been a teenager since the 80′s. Just wanted to write a Halloween-ish story and I love me some vampire!eddie.

Warnings: language, general vampire-ness, i think that’s it?

Words: 3.2k

Eddie can hear the gang coming for miles. There are five of them in total. Two guys and three girls, if he can tell by the pitch of their voices. There’s one guy and one girl who are the loudest. They’re bickering back and forth with one another, but it’s in a friendly manner.

           “Admit you’re scared,” the guy is saying.

           “I’m not scared,” the girl answers. “I’m just saying what if we get caught?”

           “Robin!” the guy answers with a groan. “Loosen up. Even Jonathan isn’t worried about that.”

           “Hey!” There’s a sound of protest, from Jonathan presumably.

           Teenagers. Like himself, Eddie thinks. Except, not quite anymore.

           The group gets closer to the old house and Eddie sighs and rests his head on the wooden beam behind him. He’d been held up in the attic since he first heard them approaching. Kids and teenagers alike were no strangers to daring each other to spend time in the supposedly haunted house. The house is haunted, just not by ghosts like everyone seems to think. Eddie would deal with the annoying giggles and screams as friends tried to scare one another. Some would just dare one another to touch the house. The braver, and mostly the older, would come into the house itself to try and get a proper scare.

Once in a while was whatever; Eddie sometimes even had a good laugh about how scared some people got from nothing. But October always brought more people, almost on a nightly basis. They’d bundle up in their sweaters and jackets, which was Eddie’s only reminder that it was cold outside. Not like he could tell. He hardly ever bothered to mess with anyone who came to the house. There was no need, they always freaked themselves out. The most he would usually do is move about quickly and quietly if the group decided to make its way to the attic, where Eddie spent most of his time. If he made a floorboard creak or a doorknob rattle here and there to keep up the haunted rumors, so what?

The Creel House had been abandoned for decades, which made it the perfect haunt for Eddie. No pun intended. He remembers hearing rumors about the old home when he was a child, and a real, alive teenager. Eddie never held any stock in those rumors and proved to himself that they were in fact false when he moved in after becoming undead.

           The five teens were close enough now that Eddie could hear their footsteps. In a few hundred more yards he’d be able to hear their heartbeats. That didn’t bother him, like most people thought it would. One of the perks of living in a house that had no upkeep was that all sorts of animals would crawl into the underbrush or even find their way into the house. They were more than enough to supplement his “appetite.”

           “It doesn’t look so scary,” one of the girls says.

           “You go in first, then,” the guy who is not Jonathan answers.

           “Okay.”

           Eddie hears the girl’s soft footfalls as she walks up the porch steps. The old wooden front door swings open on squeaky hinges. The steps become slower as she finally enters the threshold. Her friends are all still out on the sidewalk, Eddie can tell from the sound of their breathing. One of them is breathing shallower than the others. The girl who was nervous about getting caught. Robin, Eddie recalls.

           The brave girl walks through the first floor, moving from room to room. Her heartbeat is only slightly faster than it was on the walk here. She really isn’t that scared. Sometimes, if it was a young guy who was being cocky and trying to show off that he wasn’t afraid, Eddie would mess with them by using his speed and stealth to yank a piece of their hair or clothing without notice. It took the cockiness out of their tone every time.

           Edde had never encountered a girl who was cocky about her braveness. Even if he did, he didn’t think he’d mess with them. His gentlemanly upbringing wouldn’t allow it.

           When the girl finishes moving through all the rooms on the first floor, she walks back to the front door.

           “Are you all coming or not?” she calls to her friends.

           Footsteps and floorboards bending tell Eddie that the whole group follows her inside. He can’t tell their footsteps apart by sound, but the slowest heartbeat continues to be the girl who first entered. She’s also the first one to walk up the stairs.

           “Where are you going?” The girl, Robin, whisper-yells to her, as if she doesn’t want to upset any ghosts.

           “Upstairs. I’ve seen everything down here,” the brave girl says.

           “By yourself?” the third girl asks.

           “You can come if you want, Nance.”

           “Nance” makes no response, and the girl’s steps continue up the stairs alone. Eddie has to admit to himself, he’s intrigued. That’s hardly ever happened during his time at The Creel House. Sometimes one member of the party would claim to not be scared and start to roam on their own, but their heartbeat would give their fear away to Eddie. This girl really wasn’t afraid.

           “Stupid,” Eddie mutters to himself. “She should be.”

           That isn’t true, though. Eddie knows he’d never hurt her, or anyone. He is getting curiouser by the second, though. It wouldn’t be hard to take a peek at the girl. She would never know.

           He hears the girl cough on the floor below him and wonders what piece of dusty furniture caused it. Eddie wonders if he’d clean the dust if it bothered him. But not having to breathe meant he didn’t care what dirt and dust accumulated.

           The door that reveals the stairs to the attic opens and Eddie finally stands from the cobwebbed floor below him. There were no shortage of places to hide, but Eddie was trying to decide which one would let him have the best view of this brave, or possibly stupid, girl. He decides to leap on the beam above him, nestling himself into a dark corner of the attic. Not that the dark meant anything to him, but it would help shield him from her human vision.

           Her footsteps get slower the closer they get to the top of the stairs and Eddie smiles to himself. Now she was starting to get nervous. He licks his lips and cocks his head to the side as he waits for her to get to the door.

           The door creaks open and if Eddie had the ability to have breath, it would have caught in his chest. He stares and blinks his eyes a few times, sure his sight is playing a trick on him. No one could be that beautiful. But his better-than-perfect vision was always right, and there she was. It figures, right? His dream girl walks into his life after it’s already over.

           The girl lets out another cough as she takes her first few steps into the attic. Eddie’s eyes don’t miss a thing. The way she reaches up to push some hair behind her ear. How she sweeps her flashlight back and forth across the attic, eyes searching hungrily. What she was looking for, Eddie couldn’t guess.

           She walks into the middle of the attic and spins in place, taking in all the angles around her. A smile appears on her lips and Eddie’s sure he’s never seen anything so pretty. While alive or dead. It confuses him though, her sudden happiness here in the dark and dirty attic.

           “I know you’re here.”

           Eddie startles. He can’t remember the last time someone’s managed to startle him. She’s talking too quietly to be meant for her friends, whose steps and heartbeats let him know were still on the first floor. He leans in towards the girl, stretching himself to be closer to her. This close, he can feel the heat radiating from her body.

           “Don’t ask me how I know, because I don’t even know,” she says. “But I know someone is here. Not a person.”

           “But not a ghost,” Eddie answers.

           She spins around suddenly, flashlight searching all the dark corner for where the sound came from. Eddie smiles and rests back against the sloped ceiling. She’s looking nowhere close to where he actually is.

           “I never said a ghost,” she says. Her heartbeat is now the fastest it’s been all night, but it’s still not as fast as her friends’. Eddie would wager it’s more from excitement than fear.

           “Then what do you think I am?” Eddie asks.

           The girl swallows and Eddie can see the veins in her neck throbbing, causing him to sink his fangs into his own bottom lip.

           “Right now? Just a voice.”

           Eddie can’t help but laugh at her answer. She smiles at his laugh, and it makes the grin on his own face grow. When’s the last time he’s actually spoken with anyone?

           “You’re braver than your friends,” Eddie says.

           “Always have been,” she says. Her eyes are still roaming all around the attic, eyes even scanning over the dark corner he’s hiding in without seeing him.

           “That doesn’t surprise me,” he says.

           “Where are you?”

           Eddie debates with himself. Sure, she’s not afraid right now. But what if he shows himself and it terrifies her? Something tells Eddie that won’t happen, but he isn’t sure his dead heart can take the risk.

           “Hiding,” he says. “You’ve looked right past me a few times now.”

           She chuckles and shrugs her shoulders. “You wouldn’t be the first person to tell me I should get my eyes checked.”

           The grin on Eddie’s face makes his cheeks ache. He hardly ever smiles, let alone has this euphoric grin spread across his lips.

           “You could get them checked all you like; you’ll never have vision like mine.”

           “Are you invisible?” she asks, and it makes him snort a laugh.

           “No,” he says. “Just hiding from you.”

           “Why?” she asks.

           “I don’t want to scare you,” he says, honestly.

           She frowns and ceases looking around the room. Eddie’s instinct is to make it better. To say something that will wipe away the frown and put the smile back on her pretty face.

           “You said I was brave. Now you’re afraid I’ll be scared?” she asks.

           “Even the bravest people have things that scare them,” Eddie says.

           “What scares you?” she asks, surprising Eddie yet again.

           His brow furrows as he thinks about it. He never thought about being afraid of anything anymore. It didn’t seem like he had to, held up here in the same house for years.

           “I don’t know,” he answers honestly.

           “You’re afraid of scaring me,” she points out. “That’s a silly fear.”

           “Is it?” Eddie asks, eyebrows raising. “You know, there’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity.”

           “You wouldn’t be the first person to tell me I’m stupid either,” she says with a shrug.

           “You don’t seem stupid to me. Stubborn? Yes. Brave? Definitely. Maybe too much so. But not dumb or stupid.”

           “Can I see you? Please?”

           Eddie squeezes his eyes shut and bites his lip. He wants nothing more than to give in to her request. He feels like he’d give her anything she wanted. But he’s enjoying this conversation, and he doesn’t want it to end if he scares her off.

           “I don’t think you know what you’re asking,” Eddie says.

           “I’m asking to see you. At this point, you can’t look worse than what I’m imagining.”

           “I’m intrigued,” Eddie says. He adjusts himself so he’s sitting down on the beam, and he leans forward, elbows resting on his knees.

           “I’m imagining scales and horns and warts. Or blue skin with all black eyes and eight arms.”

           “I’m not a spider,” Eddie answers with a laugh.

           “Well, I wouldn’t know that, would I?”

           “You’re really not afraid,” Eddie says to himself, more than her.

           “Nope.”

           Eddie lets out a sigh, an expression of frustration rather than an outtake of breath. He slides off the beam, landing silently on his feet. His jeans have holes, and his black t-shirt is covered in dirt. He tries to wipe some of the dirt off without much success.

           “To your right,” Eddie says.

           She turns, flashlight bouncing in and out of the dark corners. Eddie steps forward out of the shadows, and into the beam of her light.

           Her eyes widen as she stares at him, and Eddie metaphorically holds his breath. She takes a few steps closer, and Eddie pays special attention to her heartbeat. It ticked up a little, but it didn’t spike. He watches as she takes in his hair, her eyes following individual curls falling down his forehead. She takes in the clothes, only slightly dustier than her own. Her eyes scan his face and her pulse beats quicker.

           “You’re…” She trails off, a million endings to that thought flashing through Eddie’s head. Terrifying? Dead? Evil? Pale as fuck? “Beautiful,” she finishes. Pink floods her cheeks as she stares at him, and Eddie mentally tells himself not to think about the blood rushing to her face.

           “Well, damn, Sweetheart,” Eddie says. He sticks his hands in his jean pockets and takes a few steps closer to her. “First time I’ve ever been called that.”

           “I highly doubt that,” she replies instantly.

           He grins, careful not to show teeth, and shakes his head at her. “You’re something else.”

           “So I’ve been told,” she says with a shy smile.

           “Hey!” A male voice shouts up the stairs. The girl jumps and Eddie laughs at that being what scared her. “You okay up there?”

           “Fine, Steve,” she shouts back down the stairs.

           “Steve your boyfriend?” Eddie asks, head nodding towards the stairs.

           She lets out a snort and shakes her head. “No, definitely not.”

           “What about the other guy? Or one of the girls?” Eddie asks. He tells himself he should shut up. Why is he even asking you this? It can’t matter to him. But it does.

           “Nope,” she answers him. “All on my own.”

           “No, I’m all on my own,” Eddie says with a laugh. “You’re just single.”

           “Why are you alone?” she asks, her brow pinching in concern.

           “I don’t really fit in with…everyone else,” he says.

           She takes a few steps closer to him, so they’re arm’s length apart. With the hand that’s not holding the flashlight, she reaches forward and holds her hand out to Eddie, palm upwards and open. He stares down at her soft, warm skin and wants nothing more than to slide his cold, hard fingers into hers.

           “I can’t,” he says. His voice came out rougher than he intended, and the way she frowns tells him that she heard the sadness in his voice.

           “Why?”

           “You ask a lot of questions, you know,” Eddie says with a smirk.

           “How else am I supposed to learn about you?”

           Eddie swears his heart flutters in his chest, knowing that it’s physically impossible.

           “Why do you want to learn about me?” he asks.

           “Now who’s asking questions?” Her smirk makes Eddie laugh, and he realizes too late that he lets his teeth show. She’s as observant as he expected.

           “Vampire?”

There’s no fear in the question. No anger, no malice, just pure curiosity. Her eyes are wide as she looks at him, open and awaiting his answer. Eddie can’t believe she asked so casually and calmly. This was truly the surprise of his lifetime. Alive or undead.

“You’re smart,” Eddie says. He has trouble meeting her eyes, but she moves her head around to catch his gaze.

“Hey, look at me.”

Eddie steels his spine and looks her in the eye. She’s smiling and it’s the first time Eddie’s ever truly revolted against the idea that he wasn’t fully alive.

“So, are you more like Edward or Dracula?”

The question makes Eddie burst out in laughter. It makes the girl’s grin widen and it’s the first time Eddie really relaxes around her.

“Somewhere in between,” Eddie answers while still laughing. “I don’t sparkle or burn.”

“So, you’ve read Twilight,” she remarks.

“Do you think I have a whole lot to do in this place?” Eddie asks with a shrug. “I’ve always been a fantasy nerd so of course I’ve kept up with the books these days.”

“These days, huh?” she asks, tilting her head. “How old are you?”

“Am I supposed to say seventeen? And that I’ve been seventeen a while?” He smirks at her, and the blush returns to her cheeks.

“Team Edward, are we?” she asks.

“Well, duh. Like I’m going to pick the werewolf over the vampire,” he says. He looks at her face for a few moments before answering her question. “Nineteen. Been nineteen for around thirty years now.”

“Hmm, 80’s,” she hums. “The clothes make more sense now.”

Eddie scoffs and looks down at his jeans and t-shirt. “What’s wrong with them? You’re wearing jeans, too. And a t-shirt!”

“Yeah, but mine aren’t acid wash,” she says through a laugh.

Eddie narrows his eyes at her, which makes her laugh even harder. She goes to reach for his hand, as if out of instinct, and Eddie is surprised when he allows himself to stay still so she can. Her hand only jumps slightly at the cool temperature. She looks down at their joined hands as she threads their fingers together.

“So, you don’t burn?” she asks as she holds onto his hand, as if it was the most casual and comfortable thing in the world.

“No more than you do. Just feels like a bad sunburn, only I don’t turn red,” he says.

“Y/n?” a voice calls up the stairs.

Eddie repeats the name to himself and smiles. Suddenly, it’s the prettiest word he’s ever heard.

“Yeah?” she calls back.

“Robin’s freaked. We’re leaving!”

“Be right there, Nancy!”

She frowns and holds on to Eddie’s hand tighter.

“Y/n?” Eddie says. “I like it. A lot. I’m Eddie.”

She bursts into giggles, and he raises an eyebrow at her.

“Eddie?” she asks.

“Yeah. What?”

“Is your full name Edward?” She looks like she’s going to combust from laughter and Eddie rolls his eyes.

“Jesus Christ. Yeah, that’s my full name. You’re allowed three Twilight jokes ever, then that’s it.”

“Ever?” she asks with a smirk. “Does that mean I’m allowed to come back and see you?”

The hopeful lilt of her voice sparks a joy through Eddie that he didn’t know possible.

“I really hope you do,” Eddie tells her sincerely.

“I will.” The resolute tone of her voice makes Eddie smile, and he swears he’d blush if he could.

           “I look forward to it.” Eddie bends down and presses his cold lips to the back of her hand. He feels her pulse jump beneath his lips and as strong as the urge for blood is that comes over him, the urge to keep her safe is infinitely stronger.

           “Your lips are softer than I thought.”

           Eddie smirks and her face burns bright red. She clearly hadn’t let the words filter through her mind before they came out. But Eddie didn’t care. The fact that she was thinking of his lips at all made him the happiest undead guy in Hawkins.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #vampire!eddie #vampire!eddie x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson fanfic

[lavender-bundle-blithe]

yknow what. Human Abilities AU where people's abilities are just... their own person. similar to a modern au but the abilities are also there but as actual people ^^ starting with sskk and skk! (am i making it into yin-yang w|w and double black m|m? maybe. i dont know myself. i think.)

byakko would be the strict but motherly protective tiger that i headcanon her to be. very protective of atsushi since he still goes through hell in an orphanage, and really, she has no filter but is nice enough to place one on for... five minutes. voice claim... ethereal but monotone. my girl's blunt. ex: tigress from kung fu panda rashomon would likely act similar to aku in a sense, but... more teasing. she likes to rile byakko up, but those happen on, like, a good day. which is one out of... two-three weeks. but similar to byakko, she's protective of the siblings very much, and can and will spoil those two with sweets since the whole slums situation. now her voice claim would likely have an elegant voice compared to byakko, yet both have the same bite. ex: yae miko from genshin impact but toned down. --- how these two interact... hm. probably how atsushi and aku were from day one in canon, they hated each other. but it could go two ways: where they catch fists or egged on by rashomon's teasing... "or is she threatening?" <- byakko. but after some time, from hating each others guts when on site and also not, it more or less evolves to them... liking each other's company. byakko helps rashomon regarding seeing things in other perspectives, however blunt they are. and rashomon helps byakko with the social cues. neither of them are the talkers, but when its just them two, no words would be spoken and yet they just understand what they need.

now for no longer human, whom i shall call "null". null is... silent. the silent eerie character that rarely talks but is just... there. not much cues in his blank and expressionless face, and his posture is solemn and tight. he acts much similar to 15!dazai but more melancholic. he took the brunt of whatever happened in his and dazai's childhood, he's a lot more mature than that. his voice claim would be a deep voice, could be heard as monotone or angry to strangers, but with those who's familiar with him, it's just... calming. ex: the horse from the boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse. for the tainted sorrow, or more or less arahabaki... he's basically a chuuya but more destructive, and he doesn't want to slow down. but when it comes to null, its either that he has to be in pace with the other or he can and will drag them. they don't care. but of course, others wonder why he cares so much for null if its said that he doesnt care at all. now some might say that no one could manage to understand him, others would say that he might speak riddles. a sort of ethereal tone, and it's oddly pitched. possible ex: sphinx from dragons dogma 2. --- this one's different, how they interact. basically: arahabaki would try and egg null on, get them riled up, but for the sake of proving the man wrong in his own point. it's unfortunately that both null and dazai have that sense of not being human. and while chuuya has his own way in showing dazai he has a life worth living, arahabaki's situation is a more difficult one. because null's more observant and quiet, the man likely has several scenarios going through his head on what's to happen, and has definitely figured out what arahabaki's planning on doing and avoided it with some certain word of phrase. so, arahabaki turns those words against null. two can play that game. but while arahabaki helps null with that, null helps with arahabaki's destructive and explosive tendencies, managing to defuse a situation in mere seconds and get them out of trouble. they're looking out for each other, and they have their backs.

#lavender talks #bungou stray dogs #bsd #Human Abilities AU #bsd byakko #bsd beast beneath the moonlight #bsd atsushi #bsd rashomon #bsd akutagawa #bsd no longer human #bsd dazai #bsd arahabaki #bsd chuuya #bsd sskk #bsd skk

[albatmobile]

romance and return policies pt. 6

final part of this ask!

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] || ao3

𓅪 Rated: E | 11.1k includes: alternate universe no powers, modern au, eventual polyamory, eventual relationships, eventual smut, gamestop au, spitroasting, orgy, oral, dp, fingering, bdsm, rope play, bondage, creampie, squirting, multiple orgasms, aftercare, orgasm control, strap on, alien dildos, xbox controller as a vibrator, pillow fight

𓅪 established roy harper x koriand'r eventual: jason todd x reader, Roy Harper x reader, koriand'r x reader endgame: Jason Todd x reader x Roy Harper x koriand'r

A few days after your joyride into town, all three of them come to annoy you at work.

You don’t even bother with menus as you ring in their order before they can even sit down.

“So, if you’re all here, who’s running GameStop?”

It’s an unfortunate skill you have, making Roy spit liquid out of places that liquid shouldn’t. This is another prime example of the phenomenon.

He loses it, choking out the sip of water he’d been taking mere inches away from your uniform. You and Jason wear similar looks of disgust but quickly join in on Kori and Roy’s rambunctious laughter. 

Pam stops by, giving everyone at the table a thorny glare. She’s warned you many times that she doesn’t like your friends coming in and loitering, but you don’t give a fuck. She has you working not doubles but triples and somehow always misplaces your check, so getting paid takes twice as long. Right now, you’re the only one doing inventory and, for some god awful reason, the only person cleaning the toilets. Anytime you bring any of this up to her, she just reminds you that your restraining order is keeping away one of her best clients.

The fucking cunt.

When you tell them this much, Jason and Roy share a look.

Finally, Roy speaks, “It’s really time you join our cult, gorgeous.”

“Is that why you guys all came in?” You ask jokingly. “Is this a GameStop intervention?”

“Of sorts,” Jason starts. His deep voice leaves you to flush. 

“ORDER UP!”

You’re shocked out of your stupor and quickly back away from the table with a sheepish smile. You return with their food and quickly get swept up into the random 10 AM rush. 

Soon, you’re packing them up, wishing they could stay longer. The last thing you need right now is for Pam to assign you to empty out the grease trap, though, so you suppose it’s all for the best. 

You haven’t yet taken your break, so you follow the trio out to the parking lot, giggling with Kori over her newest Animal Crossing villager. Roy has his arm around her tan waist, with his knuckles brushing up against your hips with every step. You don’t realize you’re biting at your lower lip until Jason emulates Roy and wraps his muscular arm around your waist. Your mouth drops, then quickly shuts, but not before he can notice. 

He chuckles lowly, squeezing you closer against his side as the four of you come to a halt in front of Roy’s Mustang and Jason’s bike, though not before his assured gait can falter.

You eye the raven-haired man curiously, noticing how antsy he seems, “What’s up?” Does he have to shit or something?

“Nothing,” He runs a sharp hand through his dark hair as he focuses back in on Kori’s Animal Crossing rant.

You raise a dubious brow but allow him to lift you onto the hood of Roy’s red coupe. Roy easily jumps up beside you, with Kori stepping inside his spread legs to continue the tour of her island. Meanwhile, Jason looks off toward Main Street with a distant look in his emerald eyes.

You watch as Jason and Roy share another look before you finally bite.

“I feel like I’m missing something,” You say, noticing how all three look guilty. You’re even more confused now. “What?” Kori looks at Roy, who looks at Jason, who purposefully avoids your gaze. “What!?”

Roy runs a loose hand through his fiery locks as if to say you’re not going to get any answers from him. Instead, you turn to Jason, who’s shoved his hands deep in his pockets.

“S’just that,” He kicks at the pavement, ducking his head as he does so before meeting your gaze head on, “We came in to ask if you’d want to go on a double date tonight.”

Your eyes widen, not missing the implication that you’d be Jason’s date and that the four of you’d all probably end up fucking again. You already know your answer is yes, but you don’t want to seem too eager, god forbid.

“Yeah, I can do that.” 

You definitely don’t mind that this is steadily becoming a thing.

“Cool,” He says with a small smile that Roy’s wolfish grin easily dwarfs.

“We are on for tonight, then?” Kori asks you sweetly. She sets her Switch down next to Roy’s thigh on the hood to take your hands into her large ones.

“Yeah,” You nod bashfully, squeezing her hands lightly as you do.

She beams, squealing as she draws you into a suffocating hug, then smooshes Jason in Roy in as well. 

“Pick you up after your shift?” Roy asks, smirk still evident on his freckled cheeks. “Your place?”

“Yeah,” You look at Jason, noticing his blush is as hot as yours feels. “Sounds good.”

🎮🎮🎮🎮

At home, you’re freaking out.

What the fuck are you supposed to wear? None of them had mentioned any plans and you’d been too starstruck to ask for more details. This is exactly when Kori texts you asking if she can come over and get ready with you. Butterflies fill your stomach as you agree.

Though you’d all fucked, this felt so much more intimate, like you could somehow fuck everything up with this date alone. You really like all of them, but you don’t know necessarily where you all stand. Are you dating Jason and Kori and Roy are dating and sometimes the four of you fuck? Or did it go deeper? Were you all together?

Kori arrives minutes later, hands full of an abundance of colorful fabrics, “Hello, friend!” She gives you a big smooch on the lips as you welcome her inside. 

It happens so fast, you don’t have time to reciprocate before she’s high-tailing it up to your room and throwing off her clothes. You gulp at the sight that greets you when you walk in.

“What’s up?” You ask, feeling anxiety seep over you. The pressure of the date, coupled with all the unknowns leaves you reeling. Now Kori’s here and you don’t even have the ability to freak out in peace. No, you have to pull it together before she notices-

“Are you alright?”

Shit.

You gulp as she approaches you. She bends down so she can cup your face in gentle concern.

“Just really nervous,” You manage to supply. Your eyes search her neon ones for salvation, something she easily grants.

“I am nervous as well,” The way she says your name makes you weak in the knees. Luckily, she’s there to support you. She guides you to the bed where all your vetoed outfits have landed and helps you to sit. 

“I don’t want to mess anything up,” You confess.

“You couldn’t,” She assures you, tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear. “We will have the best time,” She beams, taking your hands within her own to bounce them. “I promise.”

You somehow believe her and allow your anxiety to slowly ebb. 

“Where are we even going, anyway?”

She gasps in excitement, “Jason has planned a picnic!”

“For the meteor shower?” You remember him mentioning it a few days ago, but hadn’t realized it would be tonight.

Kori nods, getting up to go through the pile of your clothes, “I think this would look lovely on you. I know they’ll both like it, too,” You blush, ducking your head before she can see, but it’s too late.

She crawls across the bed toward you with a black, tight cotton dress. It’s long sleeve which will keep you warm when the sun goes down, yet the front is low-cut enough to show off some serious cleavage. It’s perfect.

You take the dress from her outstretched form, sighing when her warm forehead rests against your own. She has her eyes closed, so all you can see are her long, red lashes splayed out across her sun-kissed skin. 

God, she’s fucking perfect. 

You allow your eyes to close, eyelashes tickling against her own as you melt against her.

All worries are expelled as her acrylics rake up and down your back, engraving your skin with her want. Her swollen lips make quick work of the rest of your anxieties as she lays you down with all the assurance in the world. You know everything’s going to be all right; she makes sure of it.

By the time the two of you are dressed, your legs are shaking, though not from nerves.

She’s wearing jeans and a cropped hoodie that shows off the slightest sliver of her toned stomach as bounds down your steps toward your dates. Both men step out of the coupe as soon as they see the two of you approaching to greet you. 

Kori’s in front of you, so they greet her first. Pulling her in for a tight hug as you finish locking the door. 

Your nerves settle as a low static across your movements once you hear their chatter and you accidentally drop your keys. Before you can even bend down, Jason bounds your way to pick them up for you, sending you back to the night of your first date.

He holds the keys, taking your hands in his as he steps back to take you in, “You look incredible.”

You smile, feeling the tell-tale sear of a blush staining across your cheeks when he leans in to give you a chaste kiss. You deepen it, but only slightly. Roy wolf-whistles, effectively breaking the two of you apart. 

Jason leads you over to him where the redhead immediately pulls you against his firm chest. You can’t help but laugh at his goofy grin as he runs his freckled hands up and down your curves in appreciation. He bites his lip as if to prevent himself from doing… well, you don’t exactly what goes on in his perverted mind, but you know he’s obviously thinking about something.

Just like last time, the four of you pile into the car, racing through the desolate desert streets just as the sun threatens to completely vacate the sky. Stars have begun to twinkle in the leaking indigo of the sky as you rev off further into the dying embers of the landscape.

“Jay and Star picked this place out for us, babe,” Roy says as he finally pulls off the road. “It looks insane, trust me.”

You and Kori bounce in their laps as you traverse the rocky terrain closer and closer to the mountains on the horizon. You continue to sing along to the radio with them until you can no longer ignore your impending thoughts. 

You eye the desolate landscape skeptically, “Please tell me you guys aren’t taking me out here to murder me.”

You’re currently in the middle of nowhere and severely doubt that anyone would be able to find any of you out here this far off the road. Where are they even taking you, anyway? It’s all desert no matter how far out you drive.

Finally, Roy jams on the breaks, twisting the wheel as he does so in a way that spins the car around with a screech. The Mustang rocks back and forth from the momentum as it settles into park right next to a group of desert trees. You’ve got a white-knuckled grip on Roy’s shoulder and the door, hating the way he throws his head back and laughs so effortlessly at your plight. Kori, on the other hand, giggles in delight at his blatant peacocking. 

The men help you and Kori out of the car before leading you over to the grassy knoll under the trees that offers a picture perfect view of the gleaming night sky.

A huge, fluffy blanket’s been laid out as a base, with tons of soft pillows littering the edge of it. Tiny lanterns with fake tea lights have been scattered across the area, casting an intimate glow over the whole setup. 

“It’s beautiful,” You turn back around to face them with awe evident on your face. “Thank you,” You breathe as you draw them all in for a group hug. 

You still don’t know if this is a date for you and Jason with Kori and Roy or if it’s for all of you. What you do know is that it’s the most thoughtful thing anyone’s ever done for you.

“Took forever to find a good spot to watch the shower tonight,” Jason pulls out a large picnic basket from the trunk before taking your hand in his and leading you over to the blanket. “Plus, Kori wanted trees. Felt like a goddamned safari looking for this spot.”

You laugh, letting him lead you over to where Kori’s propped up on the blanket under a tree. 

She adjusts the pillows as you near, moving one behind her back and the trunk before clearing room for you. “Do you like it?”

Jason and Roy guide you down to sit between her legs as they finish spreading out the food.

The way she looks with the moonlight melting across her tan skin skin, you can’t image a better location.

“Everything’s perfect,” You answer with a sheepish smile, ducking your head before she can see your blush.

Kori begins running her acrylics through your hair, softly humming something you can’t quite make out. The vibrations send shivers of happiness across your skin. 

She’s so beautiful.

“What did you end up making for us, Jason?” Kori asks, stirring you from your daydreams of her.

“You cooked?” He’d mentioned to you that he liked to cook before, saying the next date he’d have to make you something. You guess he’s stuck true to his word.

He’s so perfect.

“Roy helped, too, I guess,” He shrugs nonchalantly, though his raging blush tells you everything you need to know.

“You did?” The redhead throws a wink your way at your question.

He’s so captivating.

You’re falling for them. Falling hard.

You’re entirely enamored with each and every one of them.

“If giving the chef a blowie counts, then yeah,” He jokes, but there’s an obvious anxious edge to it. Both he and Jason seem to gauge your reaction.

“Oh?” 

You didn’t mind at all. You feel no jealousy in the slightest, especially considering his girlfriend had just swallowed your come not even 30 minutes ago.

“We had our own intimacy as well,” Both men’s ears perk up at Kori’s statement.

“Oh, worm?” Roy asks in disbelief.

“Worm indeed,” You nod sheepishly looking down at the blanket. You feel all eyes on you and decide to take a leap of faith. With a sigh you ask, “What are we?”

Cue Roy’s signature spit take.

Jason is his unamused target, it seems. His button up is now covered in grape soda, leaving him no choice but to remove it. You can’t help but stare, something he notices with a loose hand through his hair. He looks away shyly but it only spurs you into action. 

You caress his jaw, drawing his attention back your way as you search his eyes for an answer.

Surprisingly, it’s Roy who supplies you with one.

“I- we, want this situation between us,” Roy gestures between himself and Kori, then between Jason and you, “to be… More permanent,” Roy turns to Kori, who nods earnestly in agreement. 

“All of you?” You question in astonishment. You can hardly believe this is all actually happening. 

So, it hadn’t all just been a one-off event, then.

You can’t stop the beaming grin that spreads across your face.

“If that’s what you’d want, too,” Jason’s gentle voice soothes the butterflies you feel thrashing around your stomach.

You attempt to keep them waiting some, not wanting to seem too desperate, but you can’t help how your response spills out of you.

“Yes,” You breathe. “I’d like that a lot.”

It’s as if a dam’s broke.

The four of you take turns kissing each other, feeling out how it feels to just be. 

To be here; to be with them. It’s all perfect.

The chasteness of your movements soon lose their tentative nature, becoming more hasty, edging deeper as you take turns melding against their bodies.

To further the officialness, Kori strips your dress off of you, leaving you in your black thong in front of all of you dates to see.

“Oh, shit,” Roy bites at his lower lip, smirking Jason’s way before nodding to Kori.

“I told you they’d like it,” She whispers to you, wasting no time in pulling off her jeans. It’s not enough, though. You need to see more of her. 

You gently kiss her, heads bobbing in perfect time with each other’s tantalizing movements. Your hands slowly slip into her bra, squeezing gently around her lofty breasts before coaxing them out of her bra and into the chilly night air. She pulls away with a light moan, lifting her cropped hoodie for you to get a good look at what’s been haunting your wet dreams.

You know exactly what you want.

You shimmy backward, positioning yourself between her long tanned legs. You want to hear how much she needs you, “You want me to eat your pussy? It’s only fair I return the favor,” You bite at your bottom lip as you nuzzle into her juicy cunt. “Right, Kor?” You look up at her from where your face is pressed against her panties. Her sweet smell permeates the fabric as you tease your tongue against it, creating a wet spot that her arousal easily doubles.

She gasps and it’s then that you hear the tell-tale sign of zippers from behind the two of you. She looks starstruck, giving an all new meaning to her nickname.

“Please,” Comes her breathless plea.

You finally push past her panties to taste her slick want, reveling in how she squirms against your hold on her hips. 

You’re on your knees, trapped arching between Kori’s long legs when you hear Jason clear his throat. You give one long lick up Kori’s twitching cunt before turning around with her slick dribbling down onto your chin to where Jason and Roy have sidled up behind you.

Roy rubs his hands together greedily with a wicked glint behind his verdant eyes as he crawls closer to you, “Can we touch you, beautiful?” He tilts your chin up as he awaits your answer. 

When you nod, he easily descends upon your lips, placing a sure hand behind your head as he deepens the kiss into something absolutely filthy. As soon as you break apart, you draw Jason in for a wet kiss of his own. You get lost in his touch, only coming back to the moment when Roy groans as he fists himself to the erotic sight splayed out in front of him.

Kori guides you back to where you’ve pushed her underwear aside. You allow her acrylics to tangle in your locks as she forces your head back down against her arching hips. This time, when you bend down you spread your thighs even wider to grant Jason and Roy better access as you makeout with Kori’s perfect pussy.

“Shit,” Jason’s rough hands travel up the globes of your ass while Roy’s smoother ones trail up your spread, inner thighs.

Kori gasps as you flick at her clit then quickly move to tease her entrance with the tip of your tongue. You flatten your tongue, dragging it across her length and repeat the motion until she whines for you to stop. You slurp the combination of drool and slick as you pull away with a pussy-drunk smile. She meets it with a panting, dazed one and removes her hand from your hair to push her own out of her eyes.

“Ah!” You startle forward into Kori’s tits as Roy finally breeches your entrance with his index finger. 

“Eat our girl out, Jay,” Roy motions for Jason to lie down under your spread form to get a better angle. You can’t deny that the new nickname drives you crazy in the best possible way. “Show her she’s ours.”

Before he follows Roy’s commands, he draws the redhead in for a teeth clashing kiss. He pushes Roy’s cap up to get a better angle before discarding the offending article all together.

Jason’s calloused hands draw another moan out of you as they assuredly grip your hips to keep you in place while he unleashes teasing licks against your pussy. Meanwhile, Roy remains on his knees so he can slowly push his thick finger into your tight heat. You exhale shakily as you back against his taunting, forcing his knuckle to finally sink inside of you with a whimper of relief.

Kori draws you back to her. You’d know that look anywhere- she’s ready to come.

“I want you,” Her breath hitches around your name while your tongue steals the rest of her coherent words until she’s a withering mess under your touch. 

Her pornstar worthy moans ring out across the landscape like a beautiful symphony. Kori’s wanton noises couple with the wet whines you’re unleashing against her folds until the two of you create the lewdest duet this desert’s ever heard. 

Roy continues to finger you while spreading your ass and positioning himself so he can eat you out from behind at the the same time as Jason does from underneath your splayed thighs. The two men seem to be in competition of who can make you moan loudest while also testing what leaves you withering under their touch.

“Jay,” Roy’s deep voice sends vibrations across your sensitive pussy. 

You halt in your ministrations on Kori to turn your head and watch as Roy slurps your arousal into his mouth. You arch with a breathless moan at the contact, the sounds breaks as you watch Roy duck over Jason’s mouth to spit your slick into Jason’s expectant mouth.

Your thighs shake, wanting to close before you can come but Jason won’t allow it.

Kori rubs at her clit, easily becoming distracted by the salacious scene unfolding in front of her until you once again descend upon her wet folds. She arches against the tree as she begs you for release, tugging at your hair as she draws closer and closer to the edge.

Panting, she draws you against her lips for a sloppy, uncoordinated kiss. 

“Fuck, Kori,” You groan against her plump lips, feeling your own impending orgasm drawing near. “You’re so fucking hot, I-“

She cuts off your rambling with another wet kiss. Her tongue flicks out to tease yours before sucking it into her mouth with a lewd slurp. Your hand works alongside hers to leave her shaking and whimpering against your lips as she comes undone by your hand. You smack her cunt, eating the groan she feeds into your open mouth as she rides it out.

You don’t have time to take pride in the panting state you’ve left her in before Jason and Roy threaten to leave you in one of your own.

Kori continues to smear her lipgloss across your puffy lips and moves in tandem with Jason to flick at your nipples. It’s when she grabs your ass from where she sits (yes, she’s really still that tall) to spread it for your men.

“Absolute fucking slut,” Roy grumbles against your aching cunt. “Such a good girl, baby,” You whimper in response, feeling your body tense with anticipation of your building orgasm. “Jason, I think she wants to come.”

“You want to come?”

You nod desperately, realizing too late that he can’t see you. The only response he needs is your desperate cry as both men double down on your dripping pussy. The sensation leaves you helplessly bucking against Roy’s fingers as they curl and squelch inside you for relief.

Kori eats your moans as they echo against your messy tangling of lips and tongues.

Jason’s fingers take over for Roy as he stands and thrusts his throbbing cock in the middle of your sapphic kiss. You eye the redheads with half-lidded eyes as you share Roy’s cock with your girlfriend. God, it feels so nice to say. After only a few moments in your mouth, Roy pulls out and releases across Kori’s and your expectant tongues.

“So fucking good to me,” Roy pants as he splatters the last of his come across your faces with a shaky groan. “Best fucking orgasm ever, swear it,” He says as he encases his lips around yours, swapping his come between your mouths before moving to Kori to do the same.

Jason moves out from under you, offering your knees relief as he lays you back against Kori’s stomach to fuck into you.

It’s a slow and cruel pace, only made crueler by how Roy and Kori touch you like they already know where you want to be touched. Each redhead takes a side, Roy sucking your tit into his mouth while Kori’s mouth draws you in for a kiss. Her acrylics tickle at your other erect nipples until you’re arching off of her and into Jason’s thrusts.

“Just like that,” Jason growls your name. “You’re so fucking tight.”

It’s when the two redheads move their attention down to your clit that you know you’re fucked. Roy spreads your folds with two fingers, watching as intensely as Jason does as his girthy cock disappears in and out of your squelching hole.

“Fuck- please,” You whimper. “I need to come, baby-“ Without warning, you arch off of Kori. Neither she nor Roy stop their jerks against your clit as you slip off Jason’s dick with a gush of liquid.

You’re wriggling in Kori and Roy’s arms as Jason releases across your expanding and retracting stomach as you pant out the remnants of your orgasm. 

“Did she just squirt on you, Jay?”

Jason snorts, looking down at his dripping cock, “Think so, Harper.” His deep voice sends waves of aftershock across your body while his steady hands draw you against his naked chest for a toe-curling kiss.

By the time you’ve all come down from the high, you realize the meteors have already begun streaming across the night sky, disappearing off behind the darkened valleys that lie ahead.

🎮🎮🎮🎮

You didn’t want to go home after the shower. There was no pressure to stay over but you wanted to. You’re all official now and you want to make it official over and over again.

That’s how you ended up in their bed, facing Kori on your knees as Roy pounds into her in the same position Jason has you in. With Kori’s great height, the width of the bed is entirely too short, meaning you’re panting against her neck as she leaves bruising kisses against your delicate collarbone. 

With one hand on the bed, your other hand tangles in her fiery hair. She gasps into your mouth, grasping her free hand against your shoulder before slowly moving it lower. She caresses your tits as they bounce from Jason’s unforgiving teasing. He continues to draw desperate mewls from you as he fucks you with just the tip until your arousal visibly drips from your cunt onto the curve of his erection.

“Jay,” Roy breathes as he leans across Kori’s back to makeout with you. His hips continue shallowly snapping into Kori’s heat all the while. “Stop teasing her before I take over and give her what she really wants-“ 

Before he can finish his statement, Jason pounds into you twice, leaving you reeling for more. Instead of giving it to you, he holds your hips steady to prevent you from bucking back against him.

“I want to try something,” Jason pats gently at your side and gestures for you to mount Kori.

You don’t question it. You give her one more kiss before she flips from her knees onto her back so you can mount her. Meanwhile, you crawl across the mattress toward Roy who stands behind her. You make a show out of straddling Kori’s long torso, presenting your ass to Roy so that your ass is now flush against Roy’s hairy pelvis.

All three of you face Jason who’s kicked off his jeans completely. His wanton eyes take in the three of you darkly as he moves onto the middle of the mattress, precome leaking from his red-tipped cock.

“You want to watch me fuck them, Jay?” Roy bites at his bottom lip as he greedily stares down at the two pussies in front of him. Roy always finds a way to render Jason speechless, this being one of those moments. “Alright,” Roy jiggles your ass, watching as the movement causes your clit to rub against Kori’s underneath you. Your moans ring out in unison, spurring movement from both men.

Before you can blink, Roy’s sinking inside you from behind with Jason’s cock gagging you from the front. 

Your eyes roll to the back of your head when Kori’s delicate hands fondle your tits, licking teasingly at your nipples as you take both of their dicks at once.

Is this heaven?

You’ve never moaned so loud before, feeling all inhibitions slip away with every thrust into your fucked-out form.

This is the first time you’ve felt Roy’s dick in you and holy shit are you going to need it in you more.

“Sharing so nicely for us,” Roy grunts as he pulls out of your slick cunt only to thrust it into Kori’s ready pussy beneath yours. “Is this what you wanted, Jay? To see my dick in their pretty little pussies so you can get off-“ 

Roy cuts himself off with a carnal moan as your tight heat welcomes him back. He rewards you with a sharp smack against each ass cheek followed by Kori’s soothing hands as she spreads your cheeks further for the redhead. Her long nails leave loving indents against your skin, only spurring your pleasure on further.

While Roy switches between your cunts, Jason alternates between your willing mouths.

“Shit,” Jason groans, pulling Roy in for a clashing kiss above you and Kori’s panting forms. “I don’t think I can last much longer,” Jason’s breath comes out shaky as he fucks deeper down your throat.

You’re slowly getting used to Kori’s intimate faces, enough to realize she’s close. You know you feel your own orgasm threatening to spill onto Roy’s jerky movements, but you hold strong.

You and Kori edge each other by playing with each others nipples and making out. Eventually, she rubs your clit and you attempt to return the favor, but your arm is too short to reach hers. She just chuckles lightly and whispers against your ear for you to enjoy. You swear you almost come right then and there.

It’s a chain reaction. 

Jason pulls out of your mouth with a lewd ‘pop’ and emulates how Roy had come at the picnic. His sticky want coats both Kori’s and your tongues and even manages to splatter across your eyelashes. With Roy fucking into Kori during this, she follows Jason with a sweet sigh as you and Roy send her over the edge with your touch.

With Jason and Kori out, Roy doubles down on you. His strong grip secures around your hair, snapping your head back so you can look at him with every jerky thrust he shudders into you.

“Fuck me, please,” You beg, moaning when Kori picks up the pace on your clit and Jason’s mouth moves to encircle your tits with bruising care. “Roy!”

“You take that shit,” He grits against his teeth as he makes you come undone like never before. “Just like that, baby. Good girl,” He praises you as you cry out in pleasure.

Your orgasm wracks over you in dizzying waves that leave you wrecked and begging for his come as you buck against his thick cock. He obliges with a noise you’ve never heard from him before. He pulls out, jerking his cock as his come spurts onto your twitching cunt. The sticky arousal oozes and drips down from your cunt onto Kori’s in an erotic display that leaves Roy’s cock twitching. 

Kori’s lithe fingers trickle down, using the thick substance as lube on your pulsating clit and ultimately sending you over the edge.

Once you come down from another orgasm, you fall into the pile of their spent bodies.

“This bed’s too small for this shit,” Jason and Roy snort while Kori merely draws you closer to her body.

“So, I think us bribing her with nerd shit worked, y’all,” You can’t help the laughter that spills from you as they all tiredly high-five each other over your come-covered body before cuddling around you. “You know this means you have to come work with us now, right?” Roy nudges you gently in the butt, “This is officially a cult and we’re taking over the world one GameStop at a time, are you up for it, cadet?”

“Roy,” You turn your head to the side to face him. “Are you trying to make me vote you out of the cuddle pile Survivor style?”

“Yeah, say my name just like that, gorgeous,” He purrs against your ear, completely ignoring the rest of your sentence. “S’long as you promise to quit that shitty fucking job you have for the shitty fucking job we have.”

“It’s not that bad,” Jason mumbles, running his hands through your hair delicately. As you’ve gotten to know him, you realize it’s his way of saying he also wants you to quit your diner job. “They’ve been bugging me to hire someone new, anyway.”

You nod, “Okay.”

“Cool,” He nods. “We have dental.” 

You can’t help but snort at his ridiculous idea of pillow talk. Regardless of the squished space, you fall asleep easily surrounded by the ones you find yourself falling for more and more each day.

  🎮🎮🎮🎮

Weeks fly by, then months, spending time with the three of them.

From aquarium dates to DIY spa treatments and nail painting weekends, you’ve never had such a blast. You’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with all of them as you all still figure out the mechanics of dating four people at once.

The bell above the diner rings out as Jason and Roy come to pick you up after your final shift at the diner. Next week you’ve been scheduled to train with Kori for your first shift at GameStop.

“Where’s Kori?” You ask as you hop into Roy’s shitty car.

“Her sister’s in town,” Jason replies as he shifts under you in the front seat. “She should be back around dinner, though.”

Roy pats your thigh as he slides into the drivers seat. He gives it a squeeze before revving the engine, “Got a problem with it being just me and Jay, beautiful?”

You obviously don’t. They’d taken turns fucking to you last night while Kori’d been at work.

You ignore his question, noticing he’s missed his turn, “Where are we going?”

“You still need to get your Xbox from your old place, right?”

You feel a certain calculatedness between him and Jason, as if you’re missing something they’ve clearly discussed. However, you push this aside as you make a mental checklist of what’s left. Your lease is up in a week and you’ve been steadily moving into a new place you’ll eventually share with them. 

“That and one extra box of plushies.” You know Kori won’t allow you to donate any. If anything, you figure that they’ll be a nice welcome gift for her when the three of them officially move in with you a few weeks from now.

The place is perfect for what the four of you have going on. 

It’s close enough to town that getting to work will be easy but far enough away that it feels entirely your own. It’s a townhouse with a massive master bedroom, something Jason’s planning to fill with a custom bed for all four of you to fit on. There’s even a four car garage due to the fact that the adjacent townhome isn’t in use and the landlord doesn’t give a fuck. 

You pull up to your old place, sharing a cheeky smile with Jason as the memories of your first time with him come flooding back to both of you. You grab your Xbox and take one last look around. 

A lot has changed since you first moved here, but the change has been good and you can’t complain.

The two of them share an unreadable look as you climb back into Jason’s lap. Before you can question it, Roy’s already peeling off. He’s blasting his college band’s EP at full blast as the three of you jet off under the blazing desert sun.

“You ready, Jay?” Roy asks cheekily.

Jason looks pissed that he’s even asked and refuses to give him a response.

“Ready for what?” You bite.

But all Roy does is smirk, “Don’t worry, baby. You’ll like it,” His freckled fingers tap to the drumbeat against the steering wheel as he screeches down the main streets. His shitty Mustang takes you all the way to the edge of town to your new place.

Roy hops out of the car first, jogging, then sliding across the hood to open the door for you and Jason. The redhead helps you out of the coupe, taking your hand in his and pressing a gentle kiss atop it before doing the same to a begrudged Jason.

“Why are you guys acting so fucking weird?” You ask as they each take one of your hands into their own. Roy remains quiet, forcing Jason to answer you. Jason’s seemed on edge ever since the two of them had picked you up from the diner. You don’t understand why he’s so nervous around you today.

“We have a surprise for you,” Is all Jason says.

The more nervous he is, you’ve found, the quieter he becomes. Whatever the surprise is, the way he’s acting right now reminds you of your first date to the outside library. 

It’s cute.

“Kori helped, too,” Roy adds helpfully as he goes about unlocking the door.

Upon entry, everything looks normal. Nothing’s out of place so you’re still entirely in the dark on the whole surprise. Well, dark in general considering no one’s bothered to turn on any lights yet.

Jason flicks on the light to the stairs and takes the lead, seemingly nervous while Roy trails behind you with a wicked smirk.

From behind you, Roy covers over your eyes as you make land on the second floor, though you accidentally stumble into Jason in front of you because of it.

“Sorry!” You attempt to pry Roy’s freckled hands from your face so you can, you know, fucking see, but he remains resolute.

“Wouldn’t want to ruin your surprise, now would we, gorgeous?”

“Jason,” You beg for backup that never comes.

“He’s not gonna be any help, baby. This whole thing was his idea,” Roy’s breath tickles against your ear as you’re shuffled into a room. “Wasn’t it, Jason?”

“Shut it, Harper,” He hisses. Regardless of his harsh tone, he’s gentle with you as he situates you to sit on…?

“Is this a bed?”

Both men snort at your observation.

“Yeah,” At Jason’s response, Roy finally lifts his hands from your eyes.

You look down at the huge fucking mattress you’re sitting on. It’s easily the size of two king-sized mattresses and would definitely be a comfortable fit for the four of you as you settle into your new shared space. Hell, they’ve even gone so far as to put on the sheets and everything.

You can tell it was Kori’s tall-ass that hung the TV because it’s way too fucking far up the wall, but at least it’s already set up with Roy’s Xbox. The room, no, the entire house needs some more work, but it’s an amazing and exciting start. Definitely a good surprise, you think to yourself with a smile.

It’s obvious that they’d just been over here from the screen that remains idle from the last game they’d been playing. 

“This is,” You turn around from where you are at the edge of the bed to get a better look at the ginormous contraption, “insane. I love it!” Jason seems genuinely pleased by your reaction and seems to finally relax a bit. Good. “I was seriously wondering why you were acting so nervous,” You snort in Jason’s direction.

Instead of smiling, he suddenly seems entirely nervous again.

Weird.

“Oh, that’s not because of the bed,” Roy jests toward a constipated looking Jason. “Is it, Jay?”

Jason sighs, moving forward to crouch in front of you and the new bed, “I needed the dumbass’ help.” You raise a brow, first at him, then at Roy’s cheeky form behind him, “I want to please you.”

You can’t help it, you choke on your spit.

“You do, Jay,” You’re quick to reassure him, completely confused by whatever the fuck’s going on here.

His lips quirk slightly at the nickname, “I know, but I want to try something new; something I haven’t really done before. That’s why I want Roy to be here. I want to learn, but I also want it to feel good for you.”

“Uh,” You’re even more confused than before. “Okay.” 

Jason, however, is saved by the bell as Kori FaceTimes you.

“You have seen the surprise, correct?” The redhead beams at you through the screen. You lift your arm up and fall backwards onto the comfy bed in lieu of a response, “Oh, yay!” She squeals, “You like it, then, yes?”

“Of course, Kor,” She beams at your nickname for her. “I love y-it, so much,” You rush to add the last part to cover up your near slip. You weren’t going to be the first one to say it, especially not over the fucking phone. You go to hand the phone to Jason and Roy so they can say ‘hi,’ but they’re too busy eyeing your spread-out form on the mattress. “Uh, Kori?”

“Yes?” Her wide green eyes look at you with concern.

“Are you somewhere private by chance?”

“Private?” You flip around the camera to show Jason and Roy both donning their bedroom eyes. “Oh,” She mumbles cutely as the screen on her end starts jostling around.

Meanwhile, Roy joins you on the oversized bed while Jason sinks to his knees in front of you.

“You like when I spank you, right?” You nod at Jason, not understanding the connection. “I want to do that and more with you, but I don’t really know how to without Roy’s experience, hence…” He trails off awkwardly. 

He’s not even looking at you, so he can’t see how you beam at his statement.

“Tell her what you want,” Roy encourages in a deep voice. His hand trickle up and down the arm closest to him while the other grabs for the phone. “You want a show, Star?”

“I would love one,” You watch as Kori bites her lip, settling into what seems to be in a bathroom. 

Roy props up the phone in just a way that allows Kori the perfect view of the three of you and the three of you the perfect view of her. As soon as he’s pleased with the positioning, he coaxes you in for a slow, deep kiss.

Your eyes flutter shut as the two men take turns kissing your lips and each other’s. When you go to trail your hand up Jason’s thigh, he stops you.

“We still need a safe word,” Jason mumbles against your lips, eyes searching yours with hesitation as if he’s afraid he’s said the wrong thing.

He hasn’t and you assure him of it with a sensual, slow kiss.

“Red?”

“Simple enough,” He concurs.

Everyone jumps when the console rings out a warning that it’ll be shutting down soon. It’s then that Roy’s face twists up coyly. 

“I think I have an idea,” He quickly shoves on Jason’s sweats, going commando as he picks up his car keys and jogs out of the room at half-mast.

He returns moments later with… “Tape?” 

You’re lost.

He merely hands it to Jason before stripping back down. As he rejoins you on the bed, he languidly drapes across your body to draw you in for a toe-curling kiss. It’s then that you notice the rope as well. 

Your stomach flips in anticipation of what’s to come.

“You remember our safe word?” Jason asks before he rips the tape off of the roll with his teeth.

“I do,” His eyes flash with something you can’t quite place as he uses the tape to secure the controller against your upper thigh. He angles it in just a way that allows the edge of it to rest against your clit.

From there, Roy untangles the rope while Jason turns his attention to the survival game on the screen. The car he gets into vibrates intensely, sending you shooting forward into Roy’s firm chest, “Shit!” Roy’s laughter booms against your smooshed face until he helps you resituate.

“Should I crash the fucking car into a mountain, or something? It’s hard to focus on this and the driving’sall,” Jason cutely turns around, looking at Roy with an innocence the situation should not possess, but you’re so glad it does. “That way when I accelerate it doesn’t have to go anywhere but it’ll still vibrate.”

You and Roy share a look, leaving you to bite your lip. 

Roy snorts, “Sure, Jay.” 

Jason does end up crashing the car, sending the controller absolutely crazy as he does. 

You cry out in pleasure, wriggling against the sheets at the brief burst of vibration. Roy motions Jason closer as he lays the rope across your skin, helping Jason knot and twist it until you’re sufficiently hogtied. The silky rope is tight around each of your breasts, threading down between your pussy lips, then straight through to part your asscheeks salaciously.

Once Roy’s pleased, he commands Jason to slip you over onto your stomach so you face Kori.

Kori licks her index finger nice and slow for you, propping her phone up on the sink to give you all a nice view of her manicured nails slipping through her bush, all the way down to her clit. She begins rubbing slowly, watching sardonically as you whimper against the low vibrations. 

“As much as this is about Jason, baby,” You feel someone lining up behind you and mewl pathetically. Your eyes can hardly focus on Kori on the screen in front of you, let alone the camera displaying you, Jason and Roy. “Would it be alright if I cut in?”

“Fuck,” You groan, feeling the phantom weight of his member bobbing close to your entrance. 

Surprisingly it’s Jason who runs a calm hand through your hair before bundling it up and tugging your head back to meet their faces. Your mouth forms a tiny ‘o’ when your eyes rest upon theirs.

“We need a verbal response,” Jason’s voice sinfully dribbles across your name, you have no choice but to give in to his domineering demeanor.

“Please,” Comes your wrecked response.

“Good boy, Jay,” Roy smirks wolfishly as he drags Jason in for a searing kiss. “I just want a taste, promise, then she’s all yours. Control the remote for me for a sec, okay?” Roy turns his attention back to you with a wicked gaze. “You ready, beautiful?”

Were you ready for him to fuck you when you’ve been waiting for his dick ever since the first break room escapade? 

“I don’t think I can wait any longer, Roy,” You answer honestly. It seems to catch him off guard. His face opens up for you in a way you haven’t seen since he made it official in the desert.

“Really?” Even Jason seems surprised by his reaction.

You bite your lip, nodding coquettishly.

“Jay know this?” Roy asks breathlessly, looking at you like he wants to devour you right then and there. “How bad you want me?”

Your eyes flicker over to Jason, which he takes as an opportunity to rev the game, vibrating the controller.

“Answer him,” The shyness in Jason’s voice is completely gone. You might think he was even upset had it not been for the obvious tent in his boxers.

“I talk about you all the time,” You say as he slinks over your body, hovering over you with his larger form. You feel embarrassed to go on, but Kori’s encouraging coos leave you no choice but to divulge everything. “He asks me if I’m imagining it’s you when he’s fucking into me,” Jason releases a shaky exhale at your admission. “He stretches me out, telling me to imagine he’s getting me ready for the two of you to fuck my pussy at the same time-“

“Shit, Jay,” Roy breathes, turning his head around to face Jason’s blushing form. “Such a filthy mouth. I’ll need to punish you later, won’t I?”

He rolls his eyes, but Roy lets him off easy as he’s more preoccupied with lining himself up. The tip of his cock teases your already slick entrance, threatening to push through and fill you for the first time. You’re reeling when Jason decides to amp up the vibrations.

You arch upward into Roy’s body. Your dazed eyes try to focus on Kori in front of you, but everything feels so fucking good. You’re pretty sure your mouth is moving, but you have no idea if anything coherent comes out once Roy’s tip breaches your tight cunt. 

He pushes in slowly, murmuring sweet things in your ear as he fills your cunt with his girth. Jason’s slowed down the vibrations to nearly nothing so you can feel all of Roy as he fully pushes in.

You’ve just gotten used to his thick cock when Jason makes a demand, “Moan for Kori.”

Roy groans, body shivering inside you as your eyes meet hers on the screen.

You blush, suddenly feeling shy as her half-lidded neon green eyes meet your widened ones. Jason won’t allow it, though as he amps up the controller to a nearly unbearable speed. You unleash an unholy moan, arousal leaking through the cracks in a way that leaves your partners visibly affected.

“More,” Kori commands and you have no choice but to give in.

Roy’s hips pick up the pace, thrusting deeper and deeper with each thrust until you’re wriggling around helplessly in their combined hold. The controller remains high as Jason claims your mouth in an aggressive kiss that matches Roy’s aggressive pace. Each thrust leaves the ropes tugging in all the right places, adding to the already intense sensations you’re assaulted with.

You don’t realize you’re coming until the strength of it forces Roy’s leaking cock out of your cunt. Just like at the picnic, you squirt everywhere, drenching everyone in the vicinity in your want. 

“It’s been so long since you’ve squirted for us, baby,” Roy practically vibrates next to your panting form.

You’re too sensitive and whine until they untape the controller from your thigh but the ropes stay on. There’s no time for recovery before Jason stakes his claim on you.

Jason tentatively fucks your dripping cunt until Roy’s gentle encouragement spurs him to shove his fingers in your mouth. Your tongue lulls out of your mouth in response, wanting- no, needing to be filled. The way you feel, coupled with the way they’re talking about you like a fucking object leaves you reeling.

“Kori,” You whimper as she watches you sardonically through the screen.

“She can’t help you, babe,” Jason’s husky voice groans against your ear. “You want Roy’s dick?” Your lulled tongue drooling is the only response the redhead needs as he lines himself up with your open mouth.

“If it gets to be too much, just snap your fingers, okay?” You nod gratefully.

It’s not too much at all. In fact, it’s everything you need and more.

You’ve never tried consecutive orgasms before, but damn if you didn’t feel like you were about to come again. This time it builds with an icy tremor across your hot skin, blossoming across your face all the way down to your lower stomach.

Kori’s fingers speed up on the screen. She’s wet as fuck. You can hear it with every slick flick of her fingers against her creamy cunt. It’s all too much and entirely not enough.

“Mmph!” You groan against Roy’s cock as Jason drills into your g-spot. Each thrust tightens the ropes around your body in the most delicious way. You wriggle your ass helplessly in the air as you take their wanton ministrations.

Your eyes tear up as you take Roy’s impressive length deeper down your throat, attention on Kori as you near closer to coming undone again. Roy pulls out, smacking his dick against your cheeks and drawing the tip teasingly across your swollen, fuck-doll lips.

“You like Jay’s dick?” Roy smirks down at your lucid face. When you don’t respond, he tugs at the hold he has on your hair. “Answer us,” He demands, teeth gritted in arousal as he awaits your answer. 

“Feels,” You pant, moaning when Roy smacks your face lightly so you focus on finishing your sentence. “So good, Jason. Please!” You beg as his hips snap flush against your tight hole. “Feels so fucking good, baby.”

“You want to come?” Jason takes over control of your hair from Roy as he snaps your head back to force you into a dizzying kiss.

You nod, gasping as you pull apart, “Please, Jay.”

He groans at the nickname, doubling his efforts on your pussy.

“So beautiful,” Kori praises 

He doesn’t last much longer. His hips snap into your tight heat a few more sloppy thrusts before his hot come fills inside your cunt deep. He groans, smacking your ass like you showed him you like as he pulls out. Roy doesn’t let too much come escape before he flips your sensitive come filled cunt around for Kori to see.

She wanted a show, so you’re going to give her one.

“Talk to her, Star,” Roy prompts as he fingers all the come that’s fallen to your thighs back inside your pussy with a lewd squelch. You pull away from him slightly, spurring slight concern, “Are you okay, baby? Do you need to use the safe word?” You shake your head with a gentle moan as you settle back toward him. “Are you sure?”

“Verbal,” Jason warns you.

“Yes, I’m sure,” You wriggle back even more toward Roy’s dripping fingers as if to prove your point.

Jason praises with a light kiss to your brow, “Good girl.” His eyes, however, are entirely focused on the mess Roy’s pushing in and out of your tight cunt.

“I wish I could taste you,” Star whimpers quietly into the speaker.

Though you can’t see her from your position, her voice is enough to send tantalizing shivers down your used body.

“Film this shit, Jay,” Roy eagerly hands the phone to Jason to film Roy fucking Jason’s come into you until Roy’s soon joins the mix.

You’re panting, entirely exhausted, as they show off you’re fucked-out form to a gasping Kori. It’s erotic enough of a sight that she sputters and comes onto her three fingers soon after you’ve been filled.

There’s a light knock on the bathroom door and Kori’s quick to sheepishly wave and hang up. However, she manages to catch the beginning of your orgasm as Jason and Roy lavish you with their fingers and tongues. You come with a muffled cry against the fingers Jason’s shoved in your mouth, releasing against the pads of Roy’s expert fingers.

You’re left groaning in overstimulation when it’s all done. 

They pepper kisses across your heated skin as you come down from the high, mewling all the while. Once you’re more coherent, Roy shows Jason how to remove the ropes that bind you.

“You were so good,” Jason looks to Roy for encouragement that this is what comes next. 

It apparently is because, the next thing you know, Roy’s rifling around in your bathroom shit for lotion. Roy instructs Jason to warm it between his hands slightly before placing it on your tender skin. 

They murmur praises against your ears, pressing kisses along your body as they continue the aftercare.

“How do you feel, gorgeous?” Roy asks. “Does anything hurt?”

“Mm,” You moan as their hands work gently against your body. “I feel really fucking good.”

“Nothing hurts?” Jason confirms.

“Nope,” You pop the ‘p’ as you lazily drawl the word from your fucked-out mouth.

“So,” Jason starts tentatively. His hands still their movements on your skin as if he’s suddenly nervous. “You’d want to try this again?”

“Of course,” You say with a smile, “but next time I want Kori to fuck me with her alien strap, too.”

The look in both of their eyes prove that they agree completely.

🎮🎮🎮🎮

Later that night, Kori interrupts your gaming session as she bursts in with three bags of something that smells incredible.

“I brought takeout!” 

You pause the game to greet her with a chaste kiss that she deepens, “How was your sister?”

“It was good! We got lunch at the new place downtown you told me about,” She presses another chaste kiss to your lips before moving to greet Jason and Roy with much of the same. “Then we went shopping- oh!” She pulls out a red dress from her bag. “I got this for you!”

It’s as red as your cheeks and easily matches the safeword from earlier. You take the dress gratefully, if not sheepishly, “Thank you, Kor. So, you had fun?”

“Mostly,” She hums as she sets out an abundance of steaming boxes. “Sometimes my sister can be…” Kori trails off, as if not knowing the word. 

“Difficult,” Roy supplies for her.

“Yes,” Kori beams in his direction. You help her set out plates while she and Jason dish out enough food to feed an army. “I still had a good time, though. I miss her.”

“I take it you told her about us?” Jason asks, though he refuses to make eye contact with anyone. 

“I did,” She nods, seemingly worried that it’s the wrong answer. 

“And?” He questions.

“She did not care for it, Jason.” 

Jason responds as if on autopilot, “I see.”

Your stomach sinks. You’ve yet to tell anyone back home, but you’d hate to face rejection when you do. Even Roy seems disappointed, though he doesn’t look surprised. Meanwhile, Jason’s wearing his best version of a poker face, though you all know him well enough to see right through it.

Though you obviously feel affected by the rejection, you hate seeing how it wears on your partners. Your not going to let one person’s opinion come between who you’ve really been falling in love with.

You refuse to let Kori’s sister have this affect over any of you.

“Well, I like what we have,” You sit back down at the table, blushing when all three easily follow behind you. “It’s unconventional, sure, but it’s not like we need approval from her or anyone,” You continue on before your anxiety can tell you to shut up. “Besides, us all living together is just the first step of, well, everything. We know what we want for ourselves and we’re doing it, of course people are going to be dicks about it, regardless of the, you know,” You trail off sheepishly as you look around the table at your awe-struck partners, “polyamory… anyway. Never mind.”

It’s completely quiet as your words sink over the sullied mood.

“She is right,” Kori’s the one who ends up breaking the silence. You wait for her to say more and are completely shocked when she does, “I love all of you.” 

You don’t mean to but you gasp. No one’s yet to broach the L-word, so it takes you completely off guard.

“I’ve never been one to give a fuck what anyone says or thinks,” Jason says. “I love you guys, too.” His serious face draws a smile to yours. Meanwhile, Roy looks like he’s just won the lottery.

“I love you all,” Roy quickly spouts.

No one pressures you and you almost consider keeping your feelings to yourself. Almost. 

They’ve all been there for you when no one else was and all they ask for in return is all you could ever ask of them. They’re all completely different and, yet all completely perfect for you. If they’re being this open, you want to be open with them, too.

“So, we’re all in love, then?” You blush, hoping it’s not too obvious but it doesn’t seem to matter regardless.

All of them are up, out of their seats to draw you into a group hug. Tiny kisses are scattered across everyone’s everywhereuntil, eventually, dinner moves to the new bed.

They make good on their word of the strap, something Kori completely dominates you with. She lays behind you as she fucks into you lazily with her ginaormous alien-dick strap. Her hands trail up your body as you flick your tongue against Roy’s, who’s laying on his side facing you while Jason fucks into him from behind, mirroring Kori’s position behind you.

It’s slow and intimate as the four of you meld together as lovers.

When you’re finished, you can’t help but feel a little disappointed. They were all going to go back to their place, leaving you alone for the first night over at the new place.

“What is wrong?” Kori lifts your chin gently, searching your eyes with confusion. Her slow cleaning movements against your skin halt. “Is it me?”

“No, it’s not you,” You snort, turning around in her arms to give her a chaste, reassuring kiss. “Well, kind of,” She quirks a brow, something you find entirely too cute. “I want this to feel even more like our place. I don’t want to stay here all alone,” You end with a pout.

“We were already planning on staying the night, love,” Jason places a reassuring kiss against your forehead.

You brighten instantly, “You’re all staying?”

“Of course,” Jason says at the same time Roy says, “We do have a bed to break in, right?”

“It doesn’t just have to be sex,” You say.

You’re already feeling completely spent after such an adventurous day. All you want to do is snuggle in bed with them, watching shitty movies that Jason and Kori pick out. So, this is exactly what the four of you do. You’re all propped up on the new bed together as some old movie flickers across the screen. Roy had argued for Dirty Dancing, but had conceded to Jason’s pick of Somewhere in Time. 

“Of course you’d pick a chick-flick,” Roy half-heartedly complains approximately 20 minutes in.

“Picked it out just for you, Harper,” Before he can say any more, Roy quite literally hits him with a pillow over the face, “You redheaded fucking cunt,” Jason takes the pillow and smacks him over his head in retaliation.

“PILLOW FIGHT!” Roy swipes the pillow from behind your back, standing on the bed in Jason’s big sweats to smack you and Kori in the face. 

You share one look with her before the two of you are up and joining in.

Roy attempts to get another one over on Jason, but Jason pulls his sweats down and tackles him to the mattress before he can. Roy wrestles with him, attempting to dodge the pillow Jason brings down upon him, but it’s in vain.

You take a different approach. You’re on your knees, giggling with Kori. You lightly take hits at each other back and forth like it’s soft porn as feathers empty out of it and litter into the air. You manage to keep it sexy until you accidentally get one good smack on her. 

Suddenly it’s not so sexy.

Kori’s on your ass in an instant, decking you in the face with a new pillow, sending a new plume of feathers into the already filled air. You double over in laughter, holding up your hands in surrender but she doesn’t concede. Instead, she holds you down as Roy straddles you to finish you off in her honor.

Jason comes valiantly to your rescue. He’s able to get Roy off of you, but when it comes to Kori, he’s fucked. She decks him with two pillows to the face with a super strength you’re convinced she holds.

The pillow fight only lasts so long before is devolves into a make out pile. You kiss anyone and everyone you can get your hands on, writhing against their familiar bodies in the massacre of feathers that now coat the duvet. You and Kori eventually tire and shoo the men off the bed to swipe the excess feathers to the floor. 

With a clean bed and feathered hair, Kori grabs Roy bridal style. She deposits him into bed before joining him under the covers. Jason lifts you in the same way, tucking you into bed next to them with a dopey smile. You end up cuddling in between Jason and Roy with Kori splayed partially over you and the other redhead.

With all of them by your side, you now realize your first observation of this town had been incorrect. Yes, it’s true that, on the surface, the desert lacked life, the caring people you’ve surrounded yourself with definitely do not. No, they make it beautiful, magical even.

Though at first, all you could see was red dust, Kori, Roy and Jason have since shown you the sturdy roots and budding flora that scatter across the horizon. It’s something you may have glanced over in the beginning, but now it’s all you can see. 

It’s different, sometimes dizzying how different your life has become since meeting them, but you wouldn’t trade it for the world. No, you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

A/N: really sad this one is finally coming to an end! this was the third fic i'd ever written for the fandom and now i'm sitting at 6!

let me know your thoughts or if you'd like to see any dialoge or scenes for this universe! i'd love to make oneshots for it

[end] || ao3 ||  pinned || my ko-fi / tip jar

#jason todd x reader #reader x jason todd #reader x jason todd x roy harper #reader x roy harper #reader x koriand'r #reader x jason todd x roy harper x koriand'r #reader x roy harper x koriand'r #albatmobile prompts #my fic: romance and return policies

[genshinology]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓. zhongli

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ pairing : zhongli x gn!reader ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ genre : modern au, high school au (can be a college au if you want to), friends to maybe lovers au and fluff. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ word count : 3.2k (reblogs are appreciated ^^) ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ summary : when you had a crush on a certain student council; the president at that. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ content : reader is a simp for zhongli, mentions of various liyue characters, one kissing on the cheek and the usage of the word ‘asses’ once. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ notes : idk what is this lmaoo it’s in my drafts for months and i actually planned to write “multiple” genshin men as the students’ representative council and already have diluc’s part drafted before deleting it, but the will to continue just disappeared into thin air HAH. even the format of this is so messy AJKDWHSKWDJ

☆ — a students’ representative council (SRC), also known as a students' administrative council, represents student interests in the government of a university, school or other educational institution.

it wasn't an underrated statement, to say that, zhongli from the front class was literally the most—if not, intelligent—famous guy throughout the entire year.

some said he was a prodigy of some sort, while others often looked up at him as their own role model. the way he often ranked one in any tasks or exams in the semester, there was no way he was never not the talk of the school.

with his strikingly slender and tall figure, plus his sharp features littered everywhere on his effortlessly charming face, always in a neat three-piece suit whenever he walked down the hallway, it was safe to say that almost everyone was head over heels for him, you included.

something about him reeked of wisdom, maturity and kindness. he was everything you wanted in a man. a perfect human if you had ever seen one.

the glances you stole during his weekly assembly speeches, the way you never really focused in class but only at him, you really needed to do something about this, because what started as a simple crush turned much more worse, especially when it was your last semester to land yourself on an excellent gpa.

he was everything that you weren't. this fact alone made you scrambled to talk properly at him, especially during that one time when you were somehow magically—or, your chemistry teacher randomly—paired up with him as his lab partner. it was a memory you wouldn't want to go back, because the way you were nothing next to him made you dumber and more often you were left speechless at the confidence and intelligence he exuded.

that time, you exactly knew why he was the most voted person to win the student election. the capability of a leader; to lead, to teach, to advise, to grow, to win, he did all of them to you, and you cursed mentally at your stupid heart for melting at his amazing aura.

though one thing you were forever grateful was, you scored a solid A+ in chemistry, all thanks to zhongli who unknowingly keeping up with your antics to not mess up the project and promised you that everything would go well if you understood the concept.

somehow, your feelings at him worsened after that, but matters of heart were never in one's full control anyway.. right?

"zhongli was really helpful, i am so glad that he was my partner."

"if i said that zhongli was a sweet person, you guys wouldn't believe me. the way his intimidating aura overshadowed that caring side of him.. he really helped me a lot on my understanding for that hellish carbon compound chapter."

"oh god, hu tao, have you seen zhongli today? wait, we're classmates, but whatever, he looks good as always."

"his speech yesterday was so inspiring. how come a man has so many advanced vocabularies in his head?"

hu tao eyed you with a something akin to a disgusted look and your face, "y/n, don't you really think that you, somehow, should get this feeling off your chest?"

"i know," you sighed, leaning against the chair and silently enjoying the breeze coming from the window beside you. for a fleeting moment, it was calming, and your mind seemed to relax, but hu tao and xiangling seemed to not wanting you get away from the current topic.

"for god's sake, you have been talking about him for the past thirty minutes," xiangling smiled cheekily at the way your face went in embarrassment, she gave you a wink whilst clapping unamusingly, "yes, we know he's perfect. yes, he's cool and all, but are you really going to live your life with regrets, and that 'oh i wish i confessed to him sooner' because we are almost done with high school and we both know perfectly that you actually love him," this time, she was the one sighing, clearly disappointed that you didn't take any step further to do something, anything, with your feelings.

"before you guys went mad at me or something," you puckered your lips, "zhongli is like a celebrity, have you guys even seen how busy he is? walking back and forth towards the school's office to settle our needs, blah blah blah. he's always not in class when we don't have classes. how should i even start to approach him?" the more you thought of it, it was a ridiculous idea.

maybe living in denial was better than embarrassing yourself for getting 'friendzoned'. but, hu tao and xiangling were right. you needed to do something about your crush towards zhongli, because it started to affect you as a whole.

"we've been classmates for more than a semester, are you telling me that he wouldn't look at you? at least we're friends, not some juniors who are delusional, thinking that they can sit beside him during lunch or something," hu tao interrupted your deep thoughts, same as xiangling, she could only give you a heavy sigh.

as someone who knew zhongli because of their part-time together outside of school, she once laughed hysterically when you told her the not-so-secret about you crushing on her co-worker.

"make the first move, y/n. you'll never know what's in store."

for most part, you often questioned yourself for being an actual idiot to do what they said. why did you even accept their challenge to confess at him before your final exam, you truly didn't know the real reason behind it. maybe you really had set yourself to really get it out. once again, what would it be for? simple. you just wanted to move on with your phase of having this stupid crush on everyone's sweetheart. there was so many people that wanted him, maybe more than you did, so the thought of him considering your feeling was never coming across your mind.

however, talking about it was way easier than verbally made actions for it.

the way your heart was beating so fast when he brushed your shoulder slightly and greeted you with a nod at the school's gate made you instantly knew that you would be heartbroken if he shrugged you off.

the way your stomach dropped when he once came back from the principal's office to settle down some paperwork about senior field day with another student council, asked you if your table was still vacant since he was rushing to eat lunch before heading out to meet the vice principals. he said something about your table was the closest to reach, and thanked you after stuffed himself with a mere egg sandwich. all in all, you were baffled and almost choked yourself on the soup xiangling brought. you finally gasped in realisation when the situation registered itself inside you; you had lunch with zhongli, although it was like under ten minutes, but still.

the whole cafeteria must've witnessed such scene, and for a second, you almost giggled at the way you felt like you had won against other zhongli's fans.

the way your fingers trembled when he helped you balanced yourself during one of the p.e. sessions inside the indoor court where you were tasked to do gymnastics. zhongli volunteered to help the teacher—you, and many, once again were ultimate whipped at his altruism—to look out for any minor errors while you guys were, at least, trying.

it was a miracle that zhongli decided to help you in the first place, the way his warmth seeped under your skin when he held you close for you not to fall while balancing on the beam, it was really hard to not getting swayed. safety comes first, you reminded yourself, you were a no gymnast too. but the way his cheek was almost pressed against your side to catch you when you slipped, his hold tightening, you swore you were in shambles.

it was the worst when you needed his approval of organising your club to help and visit an orphanage at the countryside, mainly for some extra marks for your club activities and this made you regretted why you were the club secretary in the first place. you didn't understand why you needed to seek zhongli's signature on your paperwork, but considering that the principal himself did say that he would approve whatever the president approved during one of the assemblies, it was way better, technically, than to wait and fidgeting with your fingers at the principal's office for hours, debating with him on why the school's fee should be lent for your club for travels and food and stuff.

"zhongli," your voice sounded small, and you mentally freaked out at how weak you sounded, totally not the you who casually once blurted out a curse word at hu tao at the science laboratory because she messed up with an experiment about insoluble salts, yet your group was doomed when the salts turned out soluble. something about hu tao accidentally used sodium instead of other options.

"oh, y/n," zhongli's eyes lightened up, he was only sitting at his desk, the blazer on him was never with a crease in sight, it just made him stood out even more, "what brings you here?"

you actually thanked the god that his desk wasn't crowded with people, or gifts, since it was still way before the first period.

for more than six months, you knew zhongli was the first one to enter the class, so you did what you had to do to meet him, came earlier than him, for the sake of the paperwork. your advisor said that the deadline would be by the end of this week, but you figured that the sooner this could be done, the sooner your heart would feel at ease.

only because of the charming man in front of you.

you were pathetic, you admitted that.

"uh, so, you see, my c-club, ah yes! my club, is going to help this one orphanage, b-but mr. tian said that i-it would be.. uh, easier, yes, for me to get your approval before anyone else.. or the principal. hm, yes," god, your social skills were never this bad, even the way zhongli was looking at you intently before shifting his eyes to the papers on your hand made your heart skipped a beat, "i.. i did the paperwork with ningguang, so the format must've been r-right. the details should be in there," it was indeed a miracle that you managed to voice out the lines you had been practicing since yesterday.

you vividly remembered that you were almost in the verge of breaking when you realised that you did the paperwork in the wrong way, and you didn't want to restart it again after spending hours and hours brainstorming on the ideas you should pour onto it. luckily, ningguang, the deputy president—bitter on your tongue to say this, but she was zhongli's partner in the council—helped you a lot when you decided to not be a coward and asked her for her advice. she did help you, and you knew that at least you wouldn't embarrass yourself in front of zhongli.

you handed the paperwork at him, sighed in relief when zhongli finally skimmed through it with a comforting smile.

"whose idea is this? it's a great initiative to obtain co-curricular marks with helping the orphans," he didn't look up at you, even when he sounded genuine and really went thoroughly the papers, "is it yours?"

"i, uhm, yes," you answered almost breathlessly, swallowing down the invisible lump in your throat when his eyes directly made in contact with yours, it was insane how much he affected you.

"is it so? that's endearing," zhongli chuckled lightly when he took a notice of the light red shades on your cheeks.

you weren't going to survive breathing the same air near him, the more you observed how attractive he was, the more your mind went blank, and all you could say was a small, "thank you."

though you didn't really know why you were thanking him for. maybe the slight hint of a compliment lacing under his last words made you felt like you were in cloud nine.

"you're welcome," zhongli didn't seem to mind the way you were flustered at his words and your response, as he delicately signed the paper with the black pen in his hand.

"may i.. go too?"

"what?!" you honestly should stop freaking out over simple things he said, please relax and stay calm for your own sanity. this was definitely getting out of hand.

"hm," he hummed, the silken, deep, sexy guttural tone underneath made you blinked at him multiple times for being stupidly gorgeous over little things such as this, and the way you responded to them questioningly, "i want to meet the children too," he stopped, reading your somewhat horrified face before continued on, "if it's alright with you, put my name in the list. once in a while, the children should believe in humanity, and us."

your mind went blank. did this mean zhongli would be going with you? like, literally...?

"y/n?" his tone changed, concerned look all over his face when you didn't budge to take back the papers on his desk but staring blankly at him.

"i, oh, yes—" you fixed your uniform, still didn't quite get it why you did so, presumably wanting to look presentable after all those stupid things you accidentally did in front of your own crush, "sure. i'll add you."

zhongli smiled at your words, before you bowed down at him, blabbering something about, "thank you for your approval," before you almost tripped yourself as you unknowingly kicked a chair in the way, bracing yourself to not fall down as your hands secured themselves on someone else's desk, mouthing, "i am fine," when zhongli's eyes almost widened at your clumsiness.

so when you finally reached your place, sitting down and pretending to be busy while shuffling through your things in your bag, zhongli's voice cut through the silence, "let's meet early again tomorrow, before everyone else is here. i would love to discuss the plan in details."

you didn't realise when, or how, but zhongli did turn himself fully to face you from a distant from his desk, while you, on the other hand, almost choked on thin air when you knew too well that you wouldn't be going to survive another day like this again.

but fate would always brought surprises in one's life, wouldn't it?

because the usual meetings an hour before class turned into a habit, and in some weird way, you found yourself more motivated to go to school early. even your mother was in shocked at how you woke up with a smile on your face, already in your uniform before heading out way too early when usually, around this time, you would groan at your mother that you needed five more minutes of sleep.

the activity at the orphanage went pretty smooth too, and you would consider that you were now friends with him—not like you didn't consider yourself as a friend to him initially, but all this time, you were, after all, only his classmate—because once again, your club advisor paired up you with him to distribute unwanted clothes and books to the kids. the smiles they gave back at you made your heart contented.

the habit of coming to school early made you realised that zhongli unknowingly brought the best version of you, and you were proud at how productive you had became.

it went on and on, until prom night was nearing.

it wasn't a thing before, but now, that you knew how to act properly in front of him, the only thing that was weighing inside you was should you ask him, or not?

sure, you weren't a special someone in his life, but xiangling's words haunted you more often than you liked. you didn't want to regret seeing zhongli with someone else in his arms, you wanted it to be with you. god, you sounded so selfish, when there was a long line in your year to be his prom date.

you would never stand a chance. maybe living in a blissful ignorance would be way better, although you were itching to not thinking of zhongli with someone else.

"this might seem out of context, or, generally speaking, this would, mayhaps, surprise you," zhongli started when both of you finally walked up outside of the stuffy class, decided that it was the best to get a fresh air early in the morning when no one was around. your mind would think this as a secret date, but of course, it wasn't.

"do you have a partner? for the prom night?"

you couldn't count how many times this man took your breath away with his unexpectedness, but it was bizarre that he found this thing intriguing in the first place, and to ask you that bizarre question.

because all things with zhongli were strictly business. that was what hu tao once said to you. he was a serious man, who took care of everything for the students, and didn't ponder over things such as.. this.

"n-no," you were caught off guard, but there was no way you would make a fool out of yourself again, he already seen worst, "why?" you couldn't help but to indulge in your own curiosity.

"nothing. i mean, i am just.. curious," zhongli blatantly lied and you cocked your head to the side slightly. spending your time with him made you realised that the perfect zhongli tended to avoid eye contacts when he tried to avoid something.

"really?"

"okay, no. i actually would like to spend the magical night, and wouldn't want to miss the chance to dance, with you," he was rather straightforward, not even his usual serious expression faltered when he just dropped the bomb out of nowhere and said that he wanted you to become his partner for the night.

"zhongli, i—" you took a deep breath, slightly pinching your face and yes, you weren't dreaming, zhongli was still there in front of you, waiting for your response, and right then and there, you ultimately decided to confess at him on that night, the outcome didn't matter, at least you could be with him for a night, "—yes, yes. of course, i would love to."

you didn't realise that you were almost in front of the school's beautiful courtyard, as zhongli smiled, sincerely smiled at you. he seemed loving, and the way his eyes told you a million stories behind them already told you much, that maybe, just maybe, zhongli did have a thing for you. there was no way his eyes would lie.

zhongli then mouthed a, "beautiful," before he planted a kiss at the corner of your lips. it was only for a moment, and if you weren't paying enough attention, you might not acknowledge him doing so. it was too short-lived. you were taken aback, and for the first time living in ignorance, you smiled at the little gesture.

you spotted hu tao and xiangling along the way, might need to kick their asses later when you saw hu tao handed over some cash at xiangling, before they giggled at your direction and ran away.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

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#☆.works #zhongli x reader #zhongli x you #zhongli fluff #zhongli imagines #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact imagines #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin fluff #genshin imagines