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sabraeal · 5 years

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Desert & Reward: Chapter 7

Obiyuki AU Bingo Regency AU

Obi had been barely more than a boy when he’d put his back to Wistal, the only home he’d ever known halfway worth the name, and followed the ache in his chest north. North, to snows and stone, to warm furs and cold nights, to the girl who shone as clear as the stars above Lyrias, and was just as far out of his reach.

He’d missed it then; those months at the palace were an endless summer, a respite in a life that could only be describe in the kindest terms as a tumult. He’d missed warm breeze and sweet wine, the long rambling strolls Miss had dragged him on, the sweat on his skin after another spar with Kiki and Sir.

He doesn’t remember when it stopped. One day he’d longed for Wistal, and the next day -- the next day Lyrias was home.

Obi’s been back in the palace for two days, and already he’s got a short list of reasons why he can’t wait to put his back to it again. Number one would be this buzzing behind his brow; a tension that won’t break no matter how much he ignores it.

Number two would be these buckskins, which still cling to him like they’re painted on and threaten to tear with ever step. Heaven forfend he drops something on the floor; no matter how much of a master this maestro is, there’s no way the seams would do anything but give up the ghost the second he more to any attitude that wasn’t upright. That he made it through lunch was a miracle.

Number three would be everything else involved with this whole con, starting and ending with Izana Wisteria and his plans.

Yori leaps to his feet when Obi flings open the door to his chambers, dark eyes darting nervously over his shoulder, out into the hall, as if at any point he’s expecting Obi to produce yet another royal sibling from thin air as his dearest companion.

Obi can’t blame him; with the number of royal family members and retinue that’s paraded around him the last few days, he can only imagine the boy’s letters back home have seemed more fiction than fact. Oh, wouldn’t Morel love to hear how the prince stood up for his lord at his wedding. He’d break out the good brandy for news like that.

He huffs out a laugh. At least someone will be happy with the arrangement.

“M-my lord!” Yori yelped. “May I --?”

“What do you wear to a marriage meeting?”

That stops his valet in his tracks, blinking at him like he’s just walked from a dark room into the sun. “Sir?”

Ah, right, this isn’t -- it’s not a marriage meeting. That would be Master’s garden stroll with Miss Kiki, or even the leisurely tour of Pavilion Street he had taken with Knight-dono’s too-accommodating sister. This wasn’t about compatibility, about liking each other --

Oh no, they were far beyond things like that. This was about contracts, about trickery with words.

“I mean, a...a contract meeting, for marriage,” he clarifies, which only stymies Yori further. “You know, legal stuff.”

“But, sir,” Yori presses, brow furrowed with far more thought than the situation warrants. “Shouldn’t you have handled that at your engagement?”

The words, “My what?” burst from him before he can think better of it.

“Your engagement,” Yori says, as if he is being obtuse. “To the Mistress.”

Good thing His Majesty wants him as a lord, he’s clearly losing his edge as a spy. “The Mistress? You mean my mistress?”

“Isn’t that who you are marrying?” His valet stares him down in consternation. “How don’t you --? Oh!” He raised a hand to his mouth, face flushing a painful red. “I’m sorry, my lord, I forgot --”

That I am your boss? Obi just manages to keep down.

“--That you weren’t, well, you know...” Yori lowers his voice to a whisper. “A lord then.”

“Oh.” Obi blinks. That is...a fortuitous twist to this. “Yes. That’s...true. I would not have been. When I...”

When he proposed to Miss, before he left to collect his esteemed reward. Which he hadn’t, because she had been with Master. Which none of his staff knew because -- because --

He’s been so obvious. His chest feels three sizes too tight just thinking about it. If they had seen it, then what had His Majesty --?

“You might have told Mrs Carre what you were about,” Yori informs him primly, hands setting on his hips. “She had been hoping for a wedding at Cacciatore.”

“Had she?” he muttered, wishing there was some convenient furniture to lean on. Of course, he’d told them -- and they had all called her -- and Mrs Carre had asked were Miss would sleep --

“And don’t you leave me to tell her, my lord,” his valet warned. “She’ll take a strip out of me for letting it happen! And --”

“The question, Yori --” Obi sweeps a hand to the wardrobe -- “is what do I wear?”

“Oh!” His man considers him for a long moment. “Something comfortable.” He hurries over to the wardrobe with a grimace. “It’s my understanding these take...time.”

Obi let out a sigh. “I’m sure that will be an understatement.”

Shidnote is waiting for him when he swings open the door, luxuriating in the jamb with a casual lean. He lifts those angled eyebrows of his, and Obi can feel his blood pressure spike.

“That’s what you’re wearing?” he asks --

And Obi slams the door shut again.

“I do know where His Majesty’s study is,” Obi grouses as they take yet another turn through the halls. “I don’t need a guide.”

Shidnote’s mouth take a bend that Obi can only qualify as annoying, and he says, “Funny, seems Izana thinks that if he left you to your own devices, you’d throw yourself out the nearest window.”

Obi hunches, glowering at him with an intensity that had caused more than a few men of his -- albeit, brief -- acquaintance to suddenly find other countries to be in.

Shidnote just laughs.

Fine. His Majesty and Shidnote and the rest of their set can believe what they like -- the scrawny boy prickling with knives that volunteered himself into Master’s service would have done just that, would have thrown himself off the nearest balcony any made for any port leading away from Clarines -- but Obi...

He hasn’t been hovering around Makiri’s inner circle to learn nothing. He certainly has more of a working notion about arranged marriages involve, and Miss --

Well, he might make his escape, but he knows right where Miss would end up too.

“Don’t look so sour.” Shidnote grins in his infuriatingly rakish way. “I’m not here to bring you.” He jerks his head down the hall. “She is.”

They turn the last corner, and Her Majesty awaits, a slim hand pressed to her round belly, radiant.

“I’m afraid, Sir Obi,” she murmured softly, a smile softly curling her lips. “You’ll have to suffer being waylaid one last time.”

“Well.” His mouth is so dry he doesn’t know how he manages to speak. “This seems like it will be more pleasant than any of the others.”

Shidnote let out bark of a laugh. “Well, that just shows how little you know her.”

To her credit, Her Majesty does not bully him into some side room or direct him toward some cleverly laid detour, timed perfectly to allow her to discuss what she wishes. Instead, she wraps one delicate hand around his elbow, and guides him into a walk slow enough for snails to pass.

Shidnote falls in behind them, taking great care to pretend they’re going at a normal pace. Obi takes his cue that he should do the same, putting on the expression of a man quite enjoying a leisurely stroll, and not a knight vaguely concerned that his queen will trip if he walks faster than a crawl.

“I take it that you’ve never done this before,” Her Majesty asks, somehow making even a question sound like a matter of fact. He wonders whether this was a skill she had in Lyrias as well, honed to a point, or if this is part of His Majesty’s influence. Maybe both; an inclination only bearing fruit now that it’s been suitably encouraged.

Obi grimaces. This is treading dangerously close to speculating about their bedroom, and any dog knows better than to chase rabbits into their warrens.

“Been married?” It’s a better answer than, walked to His Majesty’s study? Rumor has it that Her Majesty has a sense of humor, but Obi isn’t about to bet his head on hearsay.

“I would never presume to know that much of you,” Her Majesty demures.

Ah, so she is funny. He would have never thought His Majesty the type.

“I meant a contract,” Her Majesty clarifies. “Certainly whatever your...marital status before, you hadn’t needed a clerical representative involved.”

He blinks. “Well, I signed one when I started working for Master.”

“Oh?” Her delicate brows lift.

Shidnote grunts in surprised, “Did you read it?”

Obi grimaces. Therein lies the rub, as these noble types say. “Ah...mostly.”

He’d at least read the part about being paid and having food and accommodations provided. Those had been the important bits, after all. And even though he may not have known Master, not really, he’d seemed trustworthy enough. More than any of his previous employers, at least.

“Mostly?” Shidnote shrills; an overreaction when everything turned out just fine. “You didn’t even--?”

Her Majesty holds up a hand, drawing the knight’s words up short. “There is not enough time to discuss Marquis Conti’s questionable business practices.”

It takes him what feels like a whole minute to realize she’s talking about him. “Hey, that’s not --”

“What is more pressing now is that you do not cede ground once we are in negotiations,” she tells him, firm. “No matter how tempted you may be.”

“Cede ground?” he echoes as Shidnote steps ahead, reaching for the handles to His Majesty’s study. “Negotiations? We?”

Her Majesty smiles gently, patting his arm. “Just leave everything to me, Sir Obi.”

The thing about informal negotiations when they involved royals was: they always formal. Obi might be able to dress down, just wearing his usual shirt and trousers, so long as they didn’t have holes -- that Yori could find, at least -- but they still have to wait for an official announcement to be made, and for His Majesty to graciously accept them into his presence.

“You’d think being his wife would get you past all this red tape,” Obi mutters, before he can think better of it. “Do you have to do this for bed, too?”

It takes him only a moment to realize what he said -- what he was asking -- and in a fit of blind panic, he hopes she hasn’t heard.

“My husband and I usually enter his bedchamber together,” she tells him conversationally, as if he had only asked her about the weather, or the menu for luncheon. She catches his gaze from the corner of her eyes, and her mouth tips in a sly cant. “The thing about rules, Sir Obi, is that there is usually a way to confound them. If you are creative enough.”

“He says you can come in,” Shidnote tells them, leaning out the doors. “Guess the royal couch isn’t too comfortable.”

Obi stares, but Her Majesty only smiles. “My husband is far too wise to ever find out.”

Shidnote lets out a bark of a laugh and throws open the doors. Obi takes a breath as he steps inside, and --

Oh, he is -- he’s not ready for this.

Yori might have dressed him for comfort, but Miss -- Miss looks stunning, her hair pulled back into a tail and laid carefully over a shoulder, her gown cut just as Her Majesty’s, only somehow, when she wears it, it seems --

“Sir Obi,” Her Majesty murmurs, tapping her fingers lightly on his forearm. “Please remember, we are not to cede ground.”

He swallows. Right, of course. He leads the queen over to her seat, sitting beside her, and dares another look at his miss.

Their eyes meet.

His heart sinks to somewhere in the vicinity of his stomach. Cede ground? Her Majesty doesn’t need to worry about details like that.

Not when he’s going to serve his heart up on a platter.

A clerk sits at His Majesty’s desk, sandy-haired and squirrelly, a single long finger tap-tap-tapping as Their Majesties speak. Without the king behind it, the room seems -- tilted, wrong, as if Obi’s walked straight through a looking glass to the other side. Without His Majesty’s presence, the man is just a body in the chair, a puppet slouched and awaiting a hand to move it.

Obi jolts upright. Thinking like that...makes it sound as if he likes the king.

Now there’s a sobering thought. Hopefully, he’ll never have cause to have it again.

The clerk shifts in the chair, switching his finger for his pen as he waits for Their Majesties to get on with the negotiation. Obi agrees; if he has to hear another dissertation on the precise nature of is, he’ll negotiate himself right out the window. Miss too, for good measure. They could both skip the country; sail straight across the sea to Viande, or maybe even paddle out to Ivora.

Anything but this.

He sneaks a glance at Miss, watching the way her eyes glass over, staring sightlessly out the great windows before them, and he thinks she might go for it, might gleefully take his hand and leap --

If we leave you alone, Kiki’s voice wryly reminds him, Shirayuki will find some way to get you to elope.

Her jerks his gaze away, dragging it back to -- to somewhere safer. Somewhere he’s not tempted to think about that.

The clerk seems safe enough. Obi squints. “Have we met?”

The man nearly drops his pen. “Excuse me?”

He takes in the artful swept hair, the lazily aristocratic face. “You look familiar.”

“Obi.” Her Majesty lays a quelling hand on his arm, voice hardly louder than a murmur. “It’s bad manners to harass the help.”

“The duration of the marriage before legal rights.” His Majesty’s voice is too loud, now that Obi’s thoughts aren’t drowning it out. His legs cross languidly at the knees, giving the air of a careless lounge, as if he were entirely bored of this conversation he’s been dragging out for what seems like hours.

Obi glances at the clock. A half hour. He has died, and this is purgatory.

“Can we agree upon that?” His Majesty’s eyebrows lift in question, although his smile says that he already knows the answer. “Five years minimum.”

“Five years?” Obi yelps, darting a helpless look at Miss. She won’t meet his eyes, her body twisted away, face flushed and chin tucked down as if the giant globe between them is the most riveting part of the room.

“I believe,” Her Majesty drawls, shooting him a warning glance, “that Conti finds the duration too long.”

Forever would be less than enough, but Miss --

Miss’s heart doesn’t leap when he enters the room, doesn’t wonder how close she can come without him pulling away. She doesn’t compose words in advance so she won’t show more of her feelings than is welcome. She doesn’t love him.

Obi can’t stop this marriage, but he can make sure she’s not in it for any longer than she needs to be.

“One year,” he creaks out. “One year and she can go.”

Her Majesty turns to him, soft. “Obi,” she sighs, resting her hand on his. His fingers flex, only just managing to keep flat against his thigh. He’s not use to it, to gentleness. “You cannot pick so short a time. You may be a man in love, but you are a marquis, and she is no-one.”

“She’s everything,” he snaps, and oh, the way Miss is looking at him, so lost --

“If I were in love, I mean.” Every word is like a kick to the ribs. “I’d think she was everything.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Her Majesty meets his eyes; he’s grateful, it’s a safer place to keep his gaze than Miss. “But Tanbarun will have suspicions.”

Obi couldn’t care less what Tanbarun thinks, what anyone thinks, but --

But he has to. The king has to believe that Miss is well and truly married, or else all of this is for nothing.

“Two years,” Her Majesty proposes. “And entitled to half his properties and income, should the marriage fail after that time.”

Miss surges forward in her chair. “I don’t want any of that. Please.”

His Majesty shakes his head, rubbing at his eyes with two fingers. “Lady Shirayuki, I understand the sentiment, but do you think Shenezard will believe that your feelings have eclipsed your pragmatism?”

Miss sat back, eyeing the king warily. “I suppose...no.”

“Quite.” He fixes her with a look laden with meaning, and Obi wonders if they had exchange words before his arrival, too. “And even if you were too overcome, your bridegroom would doubtlessly wish for you to be seen to, even if a parting was...inamicable.”

She shrunk back, cheeks flush. “Oh.”

“Three,” His Majesty offers, louder, a counter-proposal. “Enough to seem incautious, but not so much to be foolish. A man blinded by love, confident in the match.”

Three years. Shorter than they were even in Lyrias. But it’s also forever, if his miss is unhappy.

He looks to her now, mouth too dry to manage more than, “Miss...?”

“I...” She glances at him from the corner of her yes, cheeks painfully red. “That would be agreeable. For Entaepode.”

“For you,” His Majesty corrects, so gently. “Two months ago, you would have had no inkling of your new position. It should be a surprise, even now.”

“Oh,” she breathes, small beside him. “Right.”

“Three years and half his titles and properties,” the clerk repeats, his fastidious voice a bucket of water upon the proceedings. “Should I add a proviso about lessening the amount, if she comes into her own fortune?”

“No.” His Majesty shakes his head. “They would not have any idea of Lady Shirayuki’s...sudden windfall.”

“They do know that Shirayuki’s father had been disinherited,” Her Majesty mentions, as if it were merely a curiosity, and not the basis of yet another debate. Her pale eyes spark as they meet her husband’s and Obi settles in for the long haul. “So it would not be out of the realm of possibility that Sir Obi might have considered his wife’s potential status, if he was a pragmatic man. Or perhaps...optimistic.”

Or ambitious is what she doesn’t say, but Obi can hear it loud and clear in the silence.

His Majesty straightens in his seat, mouth curling at a corner in pleasant anticipation. “We have already stated that the man in question is in love to the point of incaution. To leave the door open for shrewdness might lead to speculation.”

“However he is in the employ of the royal family of Clarines,” she counters, leaning ever so slightly closer. “Or, more accurately, he was before his elevation. And it has never been said that the king of Clarines hires fools.”

“An excellent point,” His Majesty allows, “though it will take more than flattery to cause one to forget that even a clever man may have too much pride in his intuition.”

“You make my point for me, husband,” Her Majesty nearly purrs. “For could not a man be blinded to his love’s ambition but not his own?”

The room is getting entirely too warm. “Wife --”

“Ah, I recognize you now,” Obi interrupts, his gaze fixed on the clerk. The clerk who now looks quite worried indeed. Good. “Yuuha.”

Miss’s head jerks up at the name, cheeks flushed.

“My goodness me.” Obi’s lips peel back in a grin that shows all his teeth. “It’s been a long while. What, four years? five?”

Yuuha’s mouth pulls into a thin line -- but sweat beads across his brow too. “I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Is that so?”

The clerk lifts up his nose, attempting to look down it. “I don’t associate with those beneath my station.”

“And yet look who’s sitting in front of the desk,” Obi remarks, airy, hooking his hands behind his head. Yuuha goes as red as a cherry, the crowning glory of a just desert. “Looks like you picked a winning personal policy there.”

“If you are quite done harassing the clerk,” His Majesty sighs, “I think we have more pressing details to discuss. Lady Shirayuki, did you have --?”

“Children,” Miss blurts out, face as flushed as her hair. “I mean -- heirs. There should -- should be one for Tanbarun.”

Obi stares.

“That’s -- that’s what marriage agreements look like, don’t they?” She turns to the king, eyes wide, voice wavering in desperation. “Obi asks for an heir for Conti, and I ask for an heir for Entaepode.”

“Yes,” His Majesty allows, looking far too amused. “A good consideration. Save that two months ago, you had no property to require an heir for. Unless,” he adds, eyebrows raised, “there is something about the positions in the pharmacy of which I am not aware.”

Her skin turns painfully red. “Ah. Oh. Right. I didn’t...this is all very confusing.”

“Of course it is,” His Majesty soothes, completely insincere. “However, it is a good proviso to discuss now.” He fixes his gaze to Obi with a smile that gives him chills. “After all, Tanbarun will certainly request it, when they hear of your marriage.”

Obi grits his teeth. “We can worry about that bridge when it’s burning.”

“Ah,” Her Majesty sighs, eyeing him with amusement. “Just the sort of sentiment I would have expected from a marquis.”

“At least this one,” her husband agrees.

Obi’s mouth pulls thin. “We should be more concerned with what Tanbarun will expect to see now, not -- not later.”

“Of course, of course.” His Majesty smiles. “One step at a time. Please take note,” he tells the clerk, not once taking his eyes off Obi, “that Marquis Conti would like to discuss heirs at a later date.”

Obi doesn’t bother to hide his glare. That was not what he’d meant.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Yuuha replies blandly. “Should I ask for it to be scheduled?”

His Majesty’s smile glints like a knife just before the stab. “If you would.”

The man nods. “We’ll be in touch, my lord.”

“Great,” he seethes. The clerk chances a glance at him before his gaze flutters away, trying to hide his fear in the business of paperwork. It’s at least a small balm to his pride.

“No rush,” the king tells him, far too pleased. “Just please be sure not to precipitate negotiations with any...material considerations.”

Miss blinks, confused. “What do you --oh.” She coughs, cheeks flushed. “Oh.”

Obi takes a deep breath, reminding himself that regicide is a capital crime, no matter how much a man may deserve it. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

“I’ve found, my dear marquis, that it is best to be prepared for any eventuality,” His Majesty drawls, “no matter how probable one finds it.”

His tone, coupled with the pleased curve of his smile, implies he finds it very probable indeed.

Obi’s fingers dig into the wooden arms of his chair. “I--”

A hand comes down hard on his thigh, and Her Majesty’s smile is thin as she says, “I think we have spent enough time on hypotheticals, have we not? Let us get back to the matter at hand.”

His Majesty grins. “I must yield to the superior wisdom of my wife. Mister Yuuha, if you would read back the terms?”

It’s as the clerk begins his bored drone that Her Majesty loosens her grip on him, leaning in to murmur, “Do not start fights you cannot win, sir.”

A laugh burst from him, soft and bitter. “Why start now?”

#obiyukibingo2019 #obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #desert and reward #my fic #ans #OKAY LISTEN #i know this isn't REALLY a regency AU #but listen #we all know deep down at its heart it is okay #obi's wearing buckskins #we're two steps away from discussing entails #it fits

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iliketowrite1996 · 6 years

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College Days

Okay- I have never written a story like this before, so I did my best! I hope it is good- I want to experiment with different writing types.

Mentions of unrequited love, breaking up, and friendship troubles. second guessing and nervousness. Freshman Year

You are strolling down the sidewalk on our university’s campus, head bopping to the song that is playing that is playing through your headphones.

You are three days into your freshman year, and you already love this place. Your roommate is nice, your dorm is close to a majority of your classes, and you’ve already gotten a head start on next week’s homework. You are relaxing in the moment, relishing the feeling of accomplishment.

Until a dark cloud zooms in and ruins what was an otherwise fantastic day.

Someone bumps into you, spilling your iced coffee down your pristine white shirt.

‘’Cold, cold, cold!,’’ you squeal, watching as the brown liquid soaks into the white fabric.

‘’Miss, I am so sorry. Here, let me help!’’

‘’No, no, that is okay,’’ you sigh, but take the napkins that the strangers offer you.

You suddenly feel a jacket over your shoulders, and you look up to see the young man that gave it to you.

Calling him handsome would be an understatement. His skin is glowing beautifully in the sun, his teeth are beautiful, his eyes are beautiful.

This boy is fine.

‘’My apologies, miss. I did not see where I am going. I can have your shirt cleaned for you if would like.’’

‘’No, no, that’s fine! I got this at the thrift store. I spill on myself all of the time, I have become practically immune to it.’’

You realize that you are wearing his jacket, and attempt to slide it off to give it back to him before he stops you.

‘’Please, take it. It looks good on you Besides, I am about to ask you for a favor: could you please tell me where room Hawthorne Hall 341 is?’’

‘’Do you have English-W 131 with Professor Jenkins? Because that is where I am going.’’

‘’Great!,’’ he says a bit too enthusiastically, ‘’I mean, would you mind if I walked with you?’’

‘’No, not at all. Let’s go.’’

The walk is long, and is, unfortunately filled with silence.

Not the comfortable kind.

The awkward kind.

The kind that has you counting how many steps it takes to get to your destination.

55.

You enter the lecture hall, which can’t seat more than seventy-five people. One of the huge perks of going to a smaller university is that you get more one-on-one time with your professor. And if you're going to graduate in four-five years, you need all the help you can get.

‘’Would you mind if I sat next to you,’’ the young man questions, although the class is nearly empty since you still have fifteen minutes.

‘’No, I don’t mind,’’ you say as you climb to the highest level of seating.

‘’Thank you kindly. My name is T’Challa, by the way. T’Challa Udaku. I know that we did not get to do formal introductions earlier.’’

‘’No we did not. I am Y/N Y/L/N, the girl who is currently wearing your coffee. It smells like vanilla. What a waste.’’

‘’Well, I would not say that it was a waste. I do believe I have made a new friend.’’

From that moment, you knew you were going to enjoy your college experience.

Sophomore Year

You and T'Challa became close after that day. You studied together every Wednesday, did your homework together, and had dinner together once a week. He was your partner for group assignments, he was the one who accompanied you to events where you would have felt awkward going alone.

Well, him and the girl he had initially introduced as his sister- Okoye.

Which is how, after a summer spent apart were the only way to keep in touch was through video chats and messaging.

‘’So why can’t you come see me,’’ you’d pouted when he first video chated you.

‘’You know why, Y/N,’’ he’d laugh.

T’Challa had waited until the very last minute to reveal to you that he was the whole prince of a whole country. He’d wanted to make sure that this was genuine friendship. And when he realized that it was, he’d told you the truth. And you promised not to tell anyone. It was easy, too. For one, you kept your friend group small. There was you, T’Challa, Alyssa, and Anthony. For another thing, T’Challa’s name was known to the world, but not his face. King T’Chaka had taken every precaution to ensure that his son’s privacy could be protected for as long as possible, or until he was ready.

Judging from how well you took the news- after you questioned him for two hours- he figured that’d be soon. And it was. He’d let the story slip, even giving an interview for the journalism club. Still, he kept his friend group small, with just the people he knew liked him for him.

Now, you’re sitting in Anthony’s dorm with T’Challa, Anthony and Alyssa, watching a movie. T’Challa’s back is against your wall as you lounge next to him, feet in his lap. Okoye is on the floor, still under the guise of being T’Challa’s sister. Alyssa is sitting in T’Challa’s chair that is pulled away from his desk, and Anthony is on the floor in front of her as she braids his hair.

Alyssa and Anthony have a very unique friendship, similar to your and T’Challa’s. They’re best friends, but everyone always thinks there is more to it, trying to put them in the ‘’Will They or Won’t They’’ plot line.

You and T’Challa never fell into that. Was there attraction on your part? Of curse. The boy is still fine, and he is definitely growing into himself. He is a good man, and he’s showing that each and every day.

And you know he’s attracted to you, too. You still remember the way he looked at you in your floor length, emerald green dress at the Freshmen Formal earlier this year in May. He’d been your unofficial date, seeing as you , him, Alyssa and Anthony all went in a group. You just spent most of your time dancing with T’Challa, especially since he was graceful during the slow dances.

Right now, he’s currently rubbing your ankles, as you’ve been on your feet all day.

‘’You have got to get some more comfortable shoes. You know you are going to be on your feet all day as a teacher.’’

‘’It’s only one day a week. This is just my internship. I can handle it,’’ you sigh, relaxing into his touch again.

‘’You may cause permanent foot problems, beautiful.’’

It’s not the first time that he’s called you that. But he calls Alyssa that as well. You’re a very tight knit group.

And you’re not jealous when he calls her that.

No, you’re not.

‘’Can you two either shut up or make out,’’ Alyssa asks, ‘’I can’t hear the movie.’’

Okoye, as graceful as she is, chokes on her water, stifling her laughter by burying her face in her arm.

Okoye is always teasing T’Challa about the nature of your relationship with each other, but he doesn’t see it as hostile. Besides, you know it’s coming from a place of love- she does not want T’Challa to get his heart broken with… whatever it is you two have going on here, and you understand.

‘’I mean, Y/N does have nice lips, but I am rather busy rubbing her feet because she doesn’t listen and wears heels to her internship.’’

‘’And T’Challa’s lips are dry,’’ you quip, and he looks at you in faux hurt.

‘’Please. They are never chapped.’’

‘’I’m looking at them right now, boo.’’

‘’For the love of… just date already,’’ Anthony jokes, using the line T’Challa had used on him and Alyssa just weeks prior.

It’s not that you haven’t entertained the thought of dating T’Challa. Who wouldn't’? He’s sweet, he’s smart, he is involved. He is currently treasure of the Black Student Union, he volunteers at the homeless shelter, he is always on the Dean’s List.

‘’It’s getting late. Maybe Y/N and I should be getting back to our dorm. We can always finish the movie tomorrow. Besides- it’s boring,’’ Alyssa shrugs, never one to hesitate and hold back what she is thinking.

‘’I will walk with you. Okoye, I trust that you are heading back to your apartment?’’

‘’I am,’’ Okoye says, knowing that this means T’Challa is relieving her of her duties for the time being, ‘’I shall see you all soon. Good night.’’

You say your goodbye’s, and T’Challa escorts you and Alyssa to your dorm.

She stays on the first floor of the building, and you on the second in your single bedroom dorm. So after T’Challa and you say goodnight to her, he walks you to yours.

‘’I hope that it did not make you feel uncomfortable,’’ he tells you as you stop outside of your door, fishing your keys out of your pocket.

‘’No, no, you did not. I understand- I know that we’re just friends. People just like to joke, tough, Why, does it make you uncomfortable?’’

‘’No, no, not at all. To be attached to a woman who is so beautiful and smart? How could that be a bad thing, Y/N?’’

‘’Stop,’’ you laugh, staring at him, ‘’You don’t have to say stuff like that. I am already your friend.’’

‘’I only speak he truth,’’ he stuffs his hands into his pockets, ‘’You know I'm attracted to you.’’

‘’And I to you, T’Challa.’’

‘’So , the real question, I guess is this: ‘Are we going to do something about it?.’’

That throws you, because that question can carry so many different meanings. And you don’t know what it means to him, but you know what it means to you. You want to be more than friends, and yet you don’t. You want something complex and something simple. But relationships are never ever simple.

So, essentially, what you hear when he asks that question is: ‘’Is it worth giving this a shot, no matter the outcome?’’

‘’Come here,’’ you take his hand, guiding him into your dorm room, where he sits on the couch pressed against your wall.

‘’T’Challa,’’ you sigh, sitting down in your desk chair and facing him, ‘’You know I care about you. But you are one of my best friends, and I’d hate to lose you.’’

‘’You would not lose me, Y/N. You know that I would not treat you any differently if we tried to see where this led and it did not work out.’’

‘’I know. I’m worried that you’d see me differently, or that I’d see you differently. I don’t want to lose this friendship,’’ you stress, and he nods.

‘’Alright. I would not want to try to convince you of something that you don't want. Are we going to be okay?’’

‘’We are,’’ you promise, giving him a hug when he stands, ‘’I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast?’’

‘’I would not miss it,’’ T’Challa grins genuinely, ‘’I will see you at the diner at ten.’’

He presses a kiss to your forehead, and for a brief moment you wish he’d press one to your lips.

And you almost take the initiative and kiss him when he pulls away, staring into your y/e/c eyes with his deep, brown ones.

But you don’t. Instead, you let him out, demanding that he messages you when he gets back to his dorm.

And you try not to wonder if you made the right choice.

The next day, you meet T’Challa at your favorite diner. You go there every Saturday morning to catch up, decompress from the week, and to get some homework done together. T’Challa is a Political Science major and you’re an Education major, but it works. He lets you practice lessons on him, you proofread his papers, and he has even asked if you’d ever consider working abroad.

‘’I would. Maybe you, Alyssa, Anthony and I can study abroad senior year,’’ you say as you take another sip of your orange juice, ‘’It’d be fun.’’

Before he can answer, Tessa Atkins, a girl from your and T’Challa’s English class last year, glides over.

‘’Hey, T’Challa.’’

‘’Hello, Y.N,’’ she says to you, but without the same flirtatious tone she’d use don T’Challa. It wasn’t mean, just different.

You’d definitely noticed her attraction to T’Challa last year. It was there before she found out that he is a prince, but you’d be lying if you said that you didn’t feel just a tinge of jealousy.

Just a tinge.

‘’I’ll call you later to discuss our plans. Bye, y'all,’’ she sashays away, and you turn to T’Challa in confusion.

‘’Plans? What plans?’’

‘’Oh, she asked me to accompany her to the movie night on campus,’’ T’Challa explains.

‘’You’re going on a date?’’

‘’If you would like to call it that,’’ he shrugs, ‘’I Haven't dated a lot. You know this. Nakia was my first and last girlfriend before I moved here. I am not so sure that this is a date. I think that we are just hanging out.’’

‘’The way you hang out with me,’’ you ask, stressing the last word in effort to convert what you are really trying to ask.

He looks up at you then, seeing the meaning of your questions in your eyes, ‘’No. It is different.’’

And he changes the subject, so you leave it at that.

But it stays burning in your mind for the rest of the day.

It’s three months later that they start dating, and you’ve never been more grateful for Christmas/Holiday/Winter break in your life/. You retreat back home, spend your time with friends from home and working to raise extra money for the next semester. The calls between you and T’Challa are becoming less frequent, and you know that you have no right to be feeling the way that you do.

You’re the one that told him that it wouldn’t work, and you still believe that.

It doesn’t stop you from wishing that you’d just taken the change.

And yet it does.

And you’re confused.

You’re happy for him, but also hurt, and you're still trying to figure out how that can be.

‘’Y/N, are you okay?,’’ your coworker, Justin, asks.

‘’I am,’’ you insist, clearing a table, ‘’I’m fine.’’

‘’You’ve been acting like this for the whole day. You literally just put the napkin holder in the bin,’’ he tells you, and you sigh, moving to the next table after placing the metal napkin holder back on the table.

‘’I just have a lot on my mind,’’ you shrug, and you wish he’d let it go.

He does not.

‘’Well, maybe you and I can hang out tonight. Go to dinner. It always helps to talk about your feelings.’’

You tell him you’ll think about it.

Mull it over for the rest of your shift.

Agree.

Three weeks later, you’re heading back to school with a boyfriend.

Conversations between you and T’Challa pick up on conversations, and things are back to how they used to be.

Sort of.

You don’t spend much time together, but you have dinner together every Wednesday and do homework together on Thursday’s.

Justin takes the train to see you every weekend, and you double date with T’Challa and Tessa. It’s nice, though, because you and T’Challa are still friends, he’s happy, and you’re happy.

You’re content.

You hope things can stay this nice.

Junior Year

And they do. You’re in love and it is nice and amazing and strange and wonderful and terrifying.

It’s a whirlwind of emotions that you don’t really want to end.

But it does, when he visits you for the last time to break up with you in person, saying that he feels like you two aren’t clicking anymore.

That your heart isn’t in it anymore.

And he’s right.

Because it isn’t.

Which is how you find yourself at T’Challa’s apartment, thirty minutes away from campus. It’s the October of your junior year of college, and tomorrow would’ve been your ten month anniversary with Justin.

Now, you’re lying across T’Challa’s bed with him as you both listen to a playlist of your favorite songs, reflecting back on heart breaks.

‘’This really hurts,’’ you laugh sadly, sniffling as T’Challa brings a hand up to rub your shoulder comfortingly, your head on his own shoulder, ‘’It sucks.’’

‘’I know,’’ he sighs, ‘’Breakups are never easy. But fear not. We have a long weekend due to fall break. We can sit here and listen to music and watch movies.’’

You laugh then, genuinely, and long and loud. He laughs, too, and it’s nice just to not feel the weight of everything else for a little while.

It’s three weeks later that you are taking T’Challa ice skating for the first time, laughing as he falls to the ice.

‘’Are you alright?’’

‘’I am. You may laugh now, Y/N, but you will not when I am the Black Panther. I will have grace and agility,’’ he smirks, leaning on you for support as you help him to stand.

‘’For someone who’s never skated before, you are doing fairly well.’’

It’s a nice way to calm down, enjoying Thanksgiving break since neither of you went back home. Instead, you had a turkey dinner with him yesterday, and he made you the same pastries that his mother, Ramonda, often makes for him when he is home for the summer.

‘’You look beautiful under these fluorescent lights,’’ he tells you, and you burst out laughing as he takes your hand again, letting him guide you around the rink.

‘’Thank you. I’m still going to laugh at you if you fall.’’

And fall he does.

Right on top of you.

Talk about awkward.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ he apologized, bracing himself against the ice to roll off of you, ‘’Maybe we should take a break? We can get something warm to drink?’’

‘’Yeah, that sounds nice.’’

Even though you kind of wanted that moment to last a little bit longer.

You find yourself rushing into T’Challa’s apartment, soaked from the freezing cold, November rain.

‘’You can get undressed in the bathroom. I will get you a shirt to borrow, then take our stuff downstairs to get them dried.’’

‘’Thank you, T’Challa,’’ you slip into his bathroom, pulling off your soaking wet clothes.

Sure enough, he leaves a pair of his pajamas for you outside of the bathroom door, which you slip into.

He takes your clothes downstairs before returning with a pizza, ‘’I ran next door to that pizzeria. Got your favorite. I will take care of dinner tonight.’’

‘’Such a gentleman,’’ you smile, taking some glasses down and preparing for dinner.

And falling even more in love with this man.

‘’Are you going to be alright,’’ T’Challa asks, referring the scene you’d witnessed earlier.

It was Tessa arriving at the skating rink with her new boyfriend on her arm.

That new boyfriend?

None other than Justin.

Because that’s salt in your wound.

You’d been okay, but you wanted to leave. He still hasn't talked to you since the break up, and you didn’t really feel up to conversing with him at the moment.

Unfortunately, the bus to T’Challa’s apartment would not be arriving for another hour, so you two walked. Then, it started to rain. Hard. Hence why you are now spending the night at T’Challa’s apartment.

‘’I am. I mean, it hurt a little bit at first, but I’m over it now. I’m fine,;; you shrug, laying your head on T’Challa’s shoulder, ‘’You?’’

‘’I am. What Tessa and I had may be over, but I’ve still got you. So I would say that I am the real winner in the situation.’’

There’s silence then as you both chew on the pizza, listening to the rain and thunder outside.

He places a kiss to your forehead, like he always does, but this time when he pulls away, you pull him back in.

Your eyes ask for permission, and he nods, as if he can read his mind.

You're learning in further and further until…

You hear the door opening, and you find yourself both wishing Okoye would have stayed out longer and silently thanking her before you ruined your friendship with T’Challa.

This was one of those moments that got away from you.

And you spend the rest of your night what would have happened if all of the events of the day had happened just a few seconds sooner.

The rest of the semester is pretty uneventful. You study together, he gets good grades, you get good grades. You hang out with Anthony and Alyssa, and he promises to call you over Christmas break. He does, you make plans to hang out as soon as you’re back on campus.

When you do meet up again, you have a two hour catch up session. He tells you all about Shuri and her latest antics, about his mother and dad. You talk to him about your family and things happening back home. He also asks you to the school’s winter fundraiser dance as friends, and you accept.

‘’You look incredible,’’ T’Challa tells you, admiring you in your black, floor length, long sleeved dress.

‘’What, this old thing,,’’ you joke, attempting to stop your heart from beating as fast as it is.

Because T’Challa looks amazing in his tux as he takes you back to your door, hand in yours,

As friends.

That’s all you are.

You constantly have to remind yourself of that.

The hall is pretty empty, with most people out on a lovely, January, Saturday night.

‘’Hey… can we talk for a moment?’’

He turns to you, nodding, and letting you lead him into your single bed dorm.

And that’s where it happens. There’s no epic moment, no birds, no music, no rain. You can hear the old school music your neighbors are playing, and you can hear the couple next on the other side of you loudly playing Monopoly.

But you don’t care. Because you’re in the middle of the dorm room, with T’Challa’s lips on yours, his hands on your waist as he pulls you closer to his body.

‘’I thought you wanted to talk,’’ he breathes out before bringing his lips back to yours.

‘’Later, We’ll talk later,’’ you sigh, then pull him back into the kiss.

And the moment is perfect.

It’s wonderful.

It’s hot and romantic and long awaited and you’re not sure why you were so hesitant to give this a chance.

Because his lips are made for yours and you’re sure.

‘’Wait, what does this mean,’’ T’Challa asks breathing heavily as he rests his forehead against yours, ‘’Are we together now?’’

In a way, you feel like you always have been. He’s always been there for you, and you for him. Timing was never right, and you were never opened to this idea until now.

Because he’s your best friend when your worlds apart, he’s your best friend when you're right next to each other, and he’d continue to be your best friend even if this didn’t work out.

So the real question is this: Are you ready to dive in?

Senior Year

Time changes.

People change.

Minds change.

Like the seasons, most things are not permanent. Unlike the seasons, people don’t always work how you expect them to.

Which is why it’s a surprise to you in the May of your junior year when Justin returns, asking you to get back together.

What’s not a surprise is when T’Challa is approached my Tessa, who makes the same request in the August of your senior year.

It's no surprise that this leads to both you and T’Challa screaming at each other, crying, voices breaking and resolves shaking.

It’s not a surprise that you don’t speak to him for quite a while, and he doesn't speak to you, until Okoye lets you both know that you are being difficult and need to talk.

It is a surprise when you’re laughing with him again, and it’s just like old times. You wipe the It’s not a surprise that you can feel graduation fast approaching, and neither of you have decided what to do about the situation.

It’s not a surprise that life happens, and that you and T’Challa don’t really talk about the situation until it’s almost too late.

You weigh all of the reasons that it could work- you’re good together, you like each other, you’re attracted, you really care about each other.

You weigh all of the reasons that it could not work- he’ll be moving back to Wakanda, Tessa and Justin are still people you have strong feelings for, timing has never been right for you too, it seems like it won’t work.

So, with a month left until graduation, you make your choice.

And you both try not to second guess where it leaves you too.

Graduation Day

You're walking the stone path one last time, relishing in all of the memories that you made on this campus. Some good, some bad. It’s where you where when T’Challa got news that his parents could make it to graduation. It’s where you found out that you got hired for that teaching job. It’s where you found your heart. It’s where you broke it. It’s where you had so many firsts and lasts.

‘’Babe,’’ your boyfriend pipes up, ‘’Graduation is beginning in thirty minutes. We need to line up.’’

‘’Coming, honey,’’ you sigh, taking his hand and letting him lead you back to the arena.

‘’I must go take my spot. But I will see you as soon as this is over,’’ he presses a kiss to your lips, ‘’I love you.’’

‘’I love you, too.’’

You are not sure what the future holds.

You don’t even know what tomorrow holds.

All you know is that you have the love of your life, T’Challa Udaku by your side, so you will take things as they come. And he’s got you.

And you’re so thankful for the day that he spilled coffee on you.

And for the day that you decided to take a chance and dive in.

DISCLAIMER- I own none of the Marvel Characters or any fictional worlds- they belong to their rightful and respectful owners.

#black panther imagine #black panther #black panther x you #t'challa udaku #t'challa x reader #t'challa x you #t'challa #tchalla x reader #reader insert #reader #imagines

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jungnoir · 7 years

Text

college boyfriend!minghao;

bless the cutie that requested animal shelter volunteer minghao, i ended up meshing it with another request for college bf!minghao bc i can do whatever i want

sfklasjd jk jk

now, minghao has always had a strong connection with animals

ever since he was a kid, he always just had this intense empathy for animals, so much so that it kind of drove his parents crazy???

like minghao would grieve for hours if he accidentally stepped on a bug, or he’d take a whole hour out of his morning when he knows he has to get to school just to help a momma dog and her pups get somewhere safe away from traffic

i mean the boy just loves animals to death

loves them more than humans tbh

so it’s no surprise that minghao became an avid animal shelter volunteer from high school well into his college career

while his friends like basketball captain seungcheol are immersing themselves in sports or music prodigies vernon and woozi are crazy over creating the next big hits on the radio, minghao is dedicating all of his time to animals

and lots of people think it’s really attractive that he loves animals

so much so that he like,,, gets people’s phone numbers?? just bc he loves animals???

people will literally come up to him like “wowwww minghao it’s so hot that you like,,, care about animals” and minghao is just like ?? thank?

i mean minghao doesn't really care if it’s “hot” or whatnot, he just really likes them

and some of his friends are always pestering him about using it to his advantage to pick up dates and stuff but minghao could literally not care less

drama kid jun happens to love bothering him about this

like one day minghao is on his way from the shelter, about to drop off a pet scorpion for a family friend who had recently purchased one, but had to stop by school to get the notes for one of his classes from jun

and jun always goes on these long tangents about how minghao should spend more time with his own species and how minghao is going to turn into some weird forest dweller that thinks they can “speak bear” before they’re mauled to death and never found again

and usually, minghao wouldn’t really pay jun attention, but that day he’s just really pushing it

and all of a sudden minghao just?? opens the little container for the scorpion and lets it crawl on an unsuspecting jun

and as soon as it stings him jun just goes nuts

and minghao calmly fishes the scorpion off jun’s shoulder while the other boy is freaking the hell out

and their friend jeonghan is just quietly sitting by, giving minghao a mildly disappointed look like minghao you can’t release scorpions on your friends

and seungcheol just happens to be nearby and when he sees jun screaming, he instantly tunes into Dad Mode and runs over asking what happened

and jun is like “minghao!!! scorpion!! bit me!!!” and before minghao can even try to calmly explain to seungcheol that most scorpions that exist aren’t even poisonous to full grown adults, let alone this one, seungcheol is diving into the bite wound and trying to suck out the venom

so now jun is screaming, jeonghan is shaking his head, seungcheol is sweating like crazy trying to “save jun’s life” and the rest of their friends are virtually unconcerned bc if jun had listened to minghao during one of his many excited info dumps about animals, he’d know that he wasn’t going to die

the moral of the story is: leave xu minghao and his hobbies alone

like if people think it’s cool that’s fine but leave him alone pls

he just wants to hang with the pups and kitties in peace

and of course, as you now know, he’s not just a fan of traditional household pets

he’s also super fascinated in the more... unwanted kind as well

like snakes and tarantulas and scorpions and rats

at one of the animal shelters minghao frequently volunteers at, they have these kinds of animals as well, and while most of the volunteers tend to stay more with the pups and gerbils, he totally doesn’t mind taking care of any and all animals because he really really does love all of them

and it’s the cutest thing bc like, most kids who want those more taboo pets are super insecure when they come to the pet shop to get one, and they feel all weird about wanting one bc i mean, how many kids in 5th grade have a pet centipede

so minghao is always the go-to for this!!

he’ll be so sweet and kind and he makes all animals seem so cool and interesting in their own ways

he even gives the pets cute nicknames to make them appeal more to kiddos

“see this little guy? he’s a scorpion! but i nicknamed him freddie. he kind of looks like a freddie, doesn’t he?”

and the kid is like “aren’t scorpions venomous?”

so minghao goes all in

he’s like telling the kid all about the different types of species of scorpions, how there are types whose sting is poisonous, and then there are types whose sting is just a lil painful at best

he explains in great detail what kind of environments they need to stay in, what he should do to keep the pet happy etc etc

and even tho the parents are usually thoroughly freaked out at the thought of bringing these types of animals home, minghao is really good at selling it in the best way possible

people pretty much think he’s a magician with how good he is at changing people’s opinions of certain animals

some people even gave him the nickname snow white for how animals just love and trust him like right off the bat

and minghao is a pretty dedicated volunteer

so dedicated in fact, that one night he gets stuck at the animal shelter after he volunteered to help set up for a massive puppy adoption set for the next day bc a freak storm rolled in out of nowhere

the employee calls and says that they can’t make it because of the rain, and that minghao should wait it out in the break room until it’s safe to drive home

and while most people would be super bummed to be stuck somewhere like that all night, minghao is not

i mean, boy is basically in heaven

he’s sure to be quiet so most of the sleeping animals can stay asleep, but some of the puppies wake when he walks through the front door and they all just start going crazy over him so he has to individually greet each and every pup and try to coax them back to sleep

to no avail of course, they love minghao and wanna play!!

minghao quietly resigns himself to the break room and steals one of the employees’ frozen burritos and throws his feet up on the arm of the couch in there and is just happily chilling, listening to the rain and whatnot

and then he hears something

it’s super faint, and minghao would think nothing of it if he didn’t hear the pups start barking like crazy afterwards

the sound keeps coming, sounding like frantic thumping, and when he inches out to the lobby, he sees through the glass door that there’s a drenched figure banging on the glass, desperate to get out of the crazy rain storm outside

so immediately he rushes over and unlocks the door, pulling whomever was outside in and shutting the door just as quickly, getting some of his face and arms wet in the process

when he manages to fight the wind long enough to get the door closed, he locks it tight and looks over at the person he had saved, slightly irritated

bc who would be this far out this late at night to be stuck in the rain, besides someone who was intentionally headed for the animal shelter???

and then he sees you

your hair is matted to your head and face and you’re absolutely soaked, body shivering from the cold and you’re looking at minghao through your wet hair, almost frightened

he realizes that he’s got quite the scowl on his face so he instead goes for a simple frown, his arms crossed as he looks you over

before you can even say anything though, he’s walking toward the back and muttering something under his breath

and he brushes past you leaving you there, so you're like??? rood

but almost as fast as he left, he’s returning with multiple fluffy towels

he throws one around your shoulders and forces you to hold it with your hands, and then he tosses one over your head to cover your hair, before he motions for you to raise your foot

slowly you do, and he unties and slips off your sneakers, before placing a towel under your bare feet and toweling them dry

“what brings you all the way out here?” minghao inquires, watching as you shyly start patting yourself down over your wet clothes

“uh, well, i was actually supposed to be helping set up for the big puppy adoption tomorrow with ashley and... you” you explain, and minghao narrows his eyes

“how do you know me?” he asks

“we volunteer different hours, but you’re pretty much a celebrity here, you know. your face is all over the shelter’s Facebook page”

minghao suddenly turns red at remembering and he quietly stands again, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looks elsewhere “didn’t you get the text? ashley cancelled since the storm was going crazy”

“no, actually. i was already halfway over when the storm started, and my phone had zero signal. the only reason you probably got it was because you’re linked to the shelter’s wifi”

which,,, is true,,,

minghao feels kinda bad for given you a bit of a cold front so he holds his hand out to you as you towel off your hair, and when he does you kind of just stare at it for a minute like ?? and then he rolls his eyes and grabs your hand to place it in his and starts shaking it

and you’d think he was thoroughly annoyed at you if he wasn’t smiling at you

and, like, wow

his smile is really nice

like imagine looking at a shining prince charming in a fairy tale

or like an angel

that was basically what looking at minghao was like

“i’m minghao, and you?”

and you introduce yourself, before he tells you to come into the back where the pet’s bathrooms are

he takes out one of the sets of extra clothes the shelter has for ,,incidents,, and then tells you to pass him your wet clothes when you were done so he could toss em in the dryer for you

a few minutes later, you walk out of the restroom with a bright yellow tee shirt on that has the shelter’s name printed across it in red letters, and a pair of khakis that are like three times your size and a pair of warm white socks to put on your cold feet

minghao is already seated on top of the dryer with a smirk, holding out a mug of something steaming

and he’s just like “the boss keeps her special tea here. if she mentions something about it missing to you, just blame it on me”

and you smile thankfully and lean against the washer with him and the two of you start drinking and he makes sure to knock the thermostat in the place up a notch so you wouldn’t catch a cold

when you two realize the storm won’t be dying any time soon, you decide to start asking minghao about himself

and usually minghao would kind of keep to himself and not reveal much besides the obvious, being his love for animals

in fact.... when that is actually the obvious, he can’t really think of anything else

the confused look on his face sends you into a fit of giggles and he looks away from you, pretty embarrassed

“it’s okay to mention the animals, minghao”

and suddenly minghao just bursts with excitement okay

like the kid gets so excited and starts talking about literally everything he loves about animals and how he’s always been an avid animal lover since birth

he talks about how there’s really nothing that makes him happier tbh

and he tells you all about how he plans to be a vet in the future and to maybe run his own no-kill shelter

you sit and listen, and i mean it really shocks you how passionate he is but at the same time?? it makes so much sense

like he’s super popular at the shelter so you know quite well what he’s like

everyone always talks about how sweet and caring he is, how much he really loves the animals and his job, and there’s really no one like him

even his nickname is notorious

instead of actual snow white popping into your head these days, all you see is a smiling minghao’s face on the “volunteer of the month” plaque

he’s still going even as you slightly space out, his face literally glowing with happiness as he talks about his favorite things ever

and then he cuts himself off like “d’ya wanna meet angel?”

and you furrow your brows, the name sounding somewhat familiar

minghao ends up leading you into the back of the pet store where the reptiles and such reside, and then you come across this beautiful rosy boa

and minghao smiles and leans near the glass, looking back at you with that same fond smile like “isn’t she a beauty? this is angel, a very docile snake species”

and you smile at angel, making sure to keep your distance as to not make too much noise to startle her, and then suddenly minghao is like “would you like to hold her? i do all the time, and she’s very calm. i understand if you’re not really into that-” but you’re already holding out your hands with a ready smile, and part of minghao’s apprehensive nature melts

you let angel sit in your hands, and while the feeling is quite strange and foreign (as you usually keep toward the felines, canines and rodents), the experience is awfully nice

and something about minghao’s soft voice as he instructs you how to hold her is just so sweet and endearing that any fears you had of handling a snake fly right out of the window

after that, he sets her back in her case and turns to one of the windows, seeing the water still beating rapidly outside

so he leads you to the couch in the break room and you guys flip on the tv in there, and while the cable is out, there’s a dvd player with a few movies workers have leftover

minghao pops in a random disney animated movie and you two just sit and laugh and watch together, practically unbothered by your situation

it isn’t until morning that the rain actually does let up, and when it does, you’re woken up rather,,,, strangely

your initial thought is that you’re warm and comfortable and you don’t really think much about it

until you feel a long arm constrict around your waist and your eyes shoot open

you soon realize that you and minghao had fallen asleep on the couch together, bodies wrapped in each other to keep warm throughout the night, and he’s currently quietly snoring against your hair, unaware of your position

your eyes fly open and you’re so shocked that you yell, instantly waking minghao up and effectively knocking him off the couch

you scream again when you realize he’s fallen, but almost immediately he places a hand over your mouth using his other to place a finger at his lips to shush you

“don’t scream... it freaks out the animals” he whispers, still half asleep

“i’m sorry, we were just... kind of cuddling and i was surprised and-” “sorry about that, you looked cold”

your heart is beating like a goddamn 808 drum at this moment

he cuddled you?? voluntarily? because you looked cold???? he cared???

he quietly sits up and laughs a little, rubbing the back of his head when he sees the morning sunlight coming in through the windows, and he shrugs, “guess that storm finally went away. we still have a few hours until ashley’ll get here to set up with us. do you wanna go change into your old clothes now so she doesn’t assume anything?”

!!!!!!

“what exactly would she assume?” you ask, raising an eyebrow sassily, and minghao realizes exactly what he’s said because he immediately flushes, mumbling “never mind” under his breath

“it’s okay minghao,” you laugh, leaning back into the couch, chancing a glance at him as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “it wouldn’t bother me much if anyone assumed anything”

it seems like you’re competing against minghao himself to see who can embarrass him more

he tries to shoot back something smart so he’s like “yeah? well me neither!!”

but... hao... that’s not really,,, a clap back

you kinda just admitted you wouldn’t mind if someone thought you two were together

and now you both are just kinda staring in opposite directions in silence, trying to figure out what the hell just went on in here on this day

but finally you get up to change and minghao decides he’ll get to work with some of the animals a few hours early, setting out food and things and helping you pick up after the animals

the rest of the day goes fairly well, and by the time you guys have to part ways, a lot of puppies have been adopted

you end up having to leave first bc of an exam, so you tell the others you’ve gotta jet and they all wish you luck

and you’re like halfway to your car when you hear someone call your name

and you recognize it as minghao, so you turn really fast, thinking maybe you forgot something

but then he’s shoving something into your hand and kind of avoiding your eyes, whispering a quiet “good luck on your test” before he darts back inside

you don’t see that it’s a paper with minghao’s number on it until you get into the driver’s seat of your car, and cutely scribbled underneath is a lil note from him

if you ever feel like getting trapped in an animal shelter with a snake loving dork like me again, let me know? - minghao

and you sure as hell do :)

you and minghao go on your first few unofficially official dates, starting with trips to the movies or going out to some new cool place to eat together

when he poses the idea that you two should go to the carnival in town, you don’t turn him down

he’s suuuuuper competitive, you learn this when he asks if you want him to win you a ryan plushie in a balloon popping game and suddenly it’s like half an hour later and he’s still going at it

but finally, he wins it :D

he’s so proud of himself, even tho he’s slightly sweaty and his arm hurts from the constant throwing, but he’s glad he got you what you wanted

and let’s be honest, it was really cute seeing him try so hard to impress you and get the bear

in the time that he had taken to get it, you had gotten lemon slushies and were now munching on corndogs together, watching the sunset with your plushie in your lap and a content smile on your face

the night was slowly coming to a quiet end, so minghao suggests that you guys at least get one more ride in before you go home

and of course,,, you just had to pick the ferris wheel

minghao wonders how it’ll feel to be so high up with you and just you, and even though his nerves get to him, he still follows you into a carriage and tries to ignore the knowing look the old man manning the thing gives the both of you as he closes the doors and reads off the rules

you’re kind of bouncing in your seat in excitement with the ryan seated next to you cutely, your arm thrown around it like he’s your boyfriend

and minghao oddly feels jealous of the yellow teddy

he feels like a third wheel, sitting on the other side of the carriage :p

once the thing gets kinda high in the sky, you look out over the carnival and the sky is finally dark enough for you to see the stars

and you’re pointing at a few and you just look so excited

suddenly minghao is yanking the teddy from the spot beside you and settling in next to you, putting ryan on the other side with his face down on the seat

you’re so startled by the sudden rocking of the carriage that you don’t notice minghao quietly slinking his arm behind you, trying to look as nonchalant as possible

but when you feel his hand brushing the strands of your hair from behind you, your smile overtakes your face and you lean into minghao, eyes alight with mischief

“were you getting jealous, minghao?”

“jealous?? of a teddy bear? psshhhhhh. phsshhhshshs. PSHHHHHHH”

but inside he is internally screaming 🚨🚨🚨

so you just as quietly link your arm around his waist and pull him a lil closer, making him all the more nervous

and then you lean over to peck his cheek, the confidence you got from seeing him so flustered blinding your rationale

but you miscalculate

and minghao turns to see exactly what the hell you think you’re about to do right as your lips touch his

when you realize what you’ve come in contact with is not, in fact, the skin of his cheek, you’re about to pull away

but minghao knows now is better than never, and he presses into you before you get away, making you squeak in surprise

the arm around you holds you close while the other comes up so his hand is resting on your cheek lovingly, holding you there so he can really kiss you

and you’re not complaining ofc

you two stay relatively still until he finally pulls away, eyes blown wide

you don’t even realize the ride has ended and the workers are waiting for you two to get out so the next pair can get on

you look past minghao with a sheepish smile and quickly grab your ryan’s (and minghao’s) hand before quickly scuttling off the ride

minghao is silently trailing after you as you both start to leave the carnival, but his hand is still tightly holding yours in fear of losing you (even tho the crowds are thinning out by now?? hmm)

when you two finally get to his car, he releases your hand, along with a stream of words that sound like “imreallysorryikissedyouthatwasprobablyreallyawkward”

“to be honest... i was gonna kiss you first, but i thought i had made you pretty flustered for one night alone” you admit, smirking at him as you lean against his car

his eyes widen just a lil before he playfully smacks ryan who you’re currently holding against your chest with a smile, “...you’re so mean”

now tbh, no one really thought they’d see the day when minghao got a significant other

jun was especially Shook

even seungcheol hit the group chat up like “i honestly didn’t think he could love anything more than animals??” with a chorus of “same”’s right after

all of his friends desperately want to meet you like they literally refuse to go without meeting the girl that managed to steal evil lil minghao’s heart

in truth, minghao isn’t all that mean?? of course he acts cold but he’s like... tsundere

he’ll pretend he doesn’t care but you bet your ass he cares a whole lot and is probably losing sleep over if you passed your latest exam or if you got the job you really wanted

and then when you tell him all went well he’ll be like “duh of course. i knew that from the start lol”

internal minghao: i love you so much with my whole mf heart and i’m so proud of you for doing well and achieving your dreams please understand this subtext as i continue to smolder

you two start changing your volunteer hours to run into each other but only minghao won’t admit it??

like if you show up a lil early and run into him you’re always like “i came to see you!!” you know, very explicitly

but he refuses (absolutely refuses) to admit to anything. ever.

mingaho: *deliberately stays behind a whole hour and a half longer than he really needs to and sees you walk in* oh wow lol stalker what are you doing here so early

you: i know you did this intentionally, minghao

minghao: *sweats*

minghao starts teaching you how to care for the more unorthodox pets and he finds it so cute how sometimes you’re all for it and other times you outright refuse *cough* tarantulas *cough*

he thinks it’s adorable tho bc you’re obviously trying to bond with the animals but the visible discomfort is just so prevalent that he decides to relieve you of your misery

i feel like i need to express one last thing

minghao is truly, truly so glad he met you

he wholeheartedly believes that he would’ve never met someone who understands him like you do

and it’s pretty presumptuous but he honestly doesn’t care, because it’s really how he feels about you

you’re very special to him and you treat him like a best friend but there’s no lack of romance either

you love animals just as much as he does, and it makes him feel pretty great having someone like you in his corner

so next time he teases you or pretends he’s not worried about you, just know that xu minghao is the biggest mush, especially for you

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