#i’ll learn my lesson i’ll post wips i promise | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yolkyeomie · 3 years

Text

Humanity of the Inhuman | Kim Sunwoo

summary — legends are meant for the wild fantasies of the dream world, but when one myth suddenly comes true, you find yourself tangled within its webs of reality.

word count — 7.2k words

pairing — sunwoo x female!reader (ft. x juyeon in a sense?)

genre — college au, gumiho au

disclaimer — !! light mentions of death, blood, and injury !! this is an wip of fic that I did not have the energy to complete, so it leaves off at a pretty big cliff hanger :( but if enough people enjoy it it I’ll make a part 2 or sumn lol (update: it does in fact have a part 2 now, go enjoy it!)

part I | part II | part III | part IV?

“Nine tailed foxes,” the instructor stated, pointing their finger towards the pictures that were projected upon the board. There were three different depictions of the creature from other cultures posted up together, expressing how each of the cultures viewed the mythical being. Mindlessly you began to draw on the notebook set in front of you, taking in each picture and messing different aspects that you liked together.

“Known as the Kitsune in Japan, the Huli Jing in China, and the Gumiho here,” they continued, switching to the next slide that only displayed more old pictures of the fox, “they are a well known part of our folklore today that even western countries have begun to adopt their own version of this creature into their literature.”

“If it’s so popular, why are we learning about it now,” you mumbled, the lead of your pencil snapping as soon as the words had been spoken into existence. You let out a deep sigh at the inconvenience, letting an angry curse come out of your mouth as you leaned over to grab something new to write with.

Though you stopped mid turn as a black pen was placed into your vision. Curiously you glanced up to catch the smiling sight of Juyeon above you, waving around his pen and urging you to take it from his hand. “We’re learning about the Gumiho because it’s an important part of our folklore, just because it’s well known doesn’t mean you shouldn’t teach it.”

He was an acquaintance, nothing more than that, a “school friend” if that made more sense. You had met him the first day you attended the mythology class after picking up the course for fun, seeing as the only available seat in the room was by him. Having no friends who attended the class at the same time as you, he had offered to become one and you gladly took up his request in order to feel a little less only in the room full of strangers.

It was a little odd to see a class so minor like this be jam packed with students, but you did notice the recent influx of people who were interested in the mythologies of their and others cultures.

Plus, you didn’t do very well on your own and were a little more socially dependent than you’d like to admit, so Juyeon’s willingness to befriend you was greatly appreciated.

“Well, I guess you’re right,” you shrug, gratefully taking the pen out of his hands. “But still, what person doesn’t know the wild tales of the nine tailed foxes? They’re like… everywhere now. If I meet someone who didn’t even have a clue what I was talking about, I’d be surprised.”

“You never know,” Juyeon continued, urging you to take a look at the board. Being presented was the Korean version of the nine tailed fox, a few notes typed beside the art describing the details and depictions of what was generally believed about the fox demon. “Maybe one day you’ll need that information to save yourself from a Gumiho one day?”

You snorted at his words, pointing out one of the bullet points to him and quietly reading them to him. “First of all, this is a mythology class. That means everything we learn here is a myth, not real? Secondly, it clearly says that they seduce men and last time I checked, I’m not a man.”

“Well, I guess you’ve got a point there,” he nodded, laying his head in his hands as he half heartedly listened to the teacher speak. “I guess I’m the one who should be paying more attention to the lecture since I’m the man, but I don’t think a Gumiho would ever find interest in me.”

“Why?” You questioned, a teasing smile appearing on your face and you poked the pin cap into his side. “It’s said that gumihos eat human livers, do you have bad livers or something? Do you have some sort of liver disease that would make you undesirable to a fox?”

“If I say yes will you stop poking me?” He innocently asked.

“I’d know you’re lying if you said yes, you’re rather healthy despite some… odd habits you have,” you clarify, giving the boy a skeptical look before turning back towards the board. You were only acquaintances with Juyeon, but there were times you’d catch him in the hallways of the building or dorms when you were looking for Kevin doing skeptical activities. Most of the time he was just smuggling snacks that his roommate would steal out of the room but man did he look crazy while he did so.

“Hey, those aren’t odd habits, it’s me protecting what I paid for,” Juyeon argued, a pout developing on his face as he tried to explain himself, “if you don’t pay for it, you don’t get a bite of it! That’s the rules and you have to respect the rules.”

You only spared Juyeon a quick glance, your eyes full of skepticism for him. He was a nice guy, a decent person to hang around, but awkwardly catching him in the hallways like a criminal running from a crime scene was all you had to see from him to determine whether or not you wanted to hang around him often. “Y/N, seriously! I'm not some freak I promise, my roommates and I just do this often and—“

“Sure, Juyeon,” you nodded, softly patting his back in only slight comfort. “I completely understand what you mean.”

“Y/N!” He complained a little louder this time, earning some sneaking looks from the rest of your peers. The two of you weren’t the biggest troublemakers but you did have a volume problem more often than you’d like to admit. Though, that was mainly because Juyeon doesn’t understand when to keep his mouth shut. “Come on, Y/N, I know you don’t believe what I’m saying but you gotta! I can even show you what we—“

“I really don’t want to walk into that room,” you decline almost immediately, “something tells me I’ll regret it if I do.”

A small chuckle left Juyeon’s mouth at your harsh words, finally taking the response as an end to the conversation. It seemed as though the two of you had stopped just in time though, as a deep sigh left your instructor’s lips. The entire class turned their head towards him in confusion, unsure on what sort of gloom had possessed their mythology teacher.

“I think… I’ll end class early today,” he declared, turning off the board that had projected the day’s lesson. In a flash, your reference for your very own nine tailed fox disappeared in front of your eyes as the instructor continued to speak. “The rain just… throws me off the mood for today.”

Instinctively you turned your head toward the window and lo and behold, the rain was pouring down outdoors. Many students groaned at the sudden change in forecast, not having brought umbrellas to shield them from such weather since the day had called from sunny skies. “Ah… that’s gonna suck going home,” you tell yourself, noting how even you hadn’t brought an umbrella.

“Excuse me!” A student called out, drawing attention to the front of the class where they had seated themselves. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you superstitious? Usually rain is considered a good thing especially on wedding days. It’s supposed to be a good omen for the future of their marriage.”

“Superstitious?” He hummed in response, thinking to himself for a few moments before answering. “Well, in a sense? Not for the reasons you think I am though.”

“Does it have something to do with gumihos?” You couldn’t help but ask, curiosity getting the best of you as you blurted out in front of everyone. The class turned back to look at you expectantly, exchanging confused and bewildered glances with each other. Even Juyeon looked at you as though you were beginning to lose your mind. You don’t really blame them, rain didn’t really have anything to do with gumihos after all.

However, your teacher smiled at you. His eyes crinkled at their sides and his wrinkles from age becoming more prominent as his smile continuously grew larger as he thought about his answer again. “Something my grandparents used to tell me when I was younger,” he began, each student getting left on the edge of their seats as he turned back towards the rainfall, “that when it rained, it meant a gumiho had entered the premise.”

II.

“You don’t actually believe him, do you?” Juyeon asked, holding the borrowed umbrella over your heads. The boy had offered to walk you home in the disastrous, knowing you lived off campus instead of in the dorms. The dorms were a lot closer to the apartment you had rented out, so the two of you had scrambled over to his room first in order to grab an umbrella and begin the trek to your home.

He was only walking you towards the closest bus stop to the campus, not wanting to intrude on your privacy any further than he already was. Juyeon was just your acquaintance from mythology after all, he was just a little too nice to let you go out into the rain and get soaking wet.

“What, about the whole rain and gumiho thing?” You responded, remembering your teacher's statement he had ended the class with. You shrugged after a moment to yourself, “honestly, not really. I mean, come on, gumihos being related to the rain? It doesn’t even make that much sense the more you think about it.”

“I guess you’re right,” he agreed, “but don’t you think it’s a little weird how he seemed to believe it? Whole heartedly too, he ended the whole class over some superstition his grandparents told him!”

“It’s probably an old saying in his family or something,” you ultimately decide, nodding your head to yourself as you come to a conclusion. “Lots of people have things like heirlooms and stories that get passed down from generation to generation, maybe that’s what that was. Maybe his family is really big on nine tailed foxes and rain.”

He shook his head in disagreement, stopping in place and nearly causing you to get soaked by the downpour. “I don’t think so, why would they pass down a saying like that when gumihos aren’t real?”

“How do you know that they aren’t real?” You challenged him.

“Because if they were real, then we wouldn’t be learning about it in a mythology class and calling it folklore,” Juyeon stretched his arm out so that the umbrella was covering the both of you as he kept talking, “Humans are like… cockroaches. We force ourselves into the lives of other beings, I think we would have done something about gumihos by now don’t you think?”

You grinned at him as you rocked back and forth on your feet absentmindedly, nugging his shoulder soft as you teased, “wow, I know the lesson wasn’t long today but did you already forget that we were taught? Once a fox has lived for a thousand years, it becomes a gumiho and can shapeshift! How will you know your face to face with a fearsome nine tailed fox when they look exactly like any normal stranger on the street?”

You didn’t even give the boy a chance to speak as you stood in front of him, your back getting pelted with the rain droplets as you continued to jeer, “anyone could be a gumiho. I could be a gumiho, your roommate could be a gumiho, our teacher could be a gumiho, even you could be a gumiho and we’d never know a thing!”

“I think you're forgetting something,” Juyeon countered, pulling out his phone from his pocket and waving it in your face. “Humans have technology, we’ll just develop more technology to find them if we need to.”

“Gosh, you’re no fun,” you pout.

“And your bus stop is right there,” he pointed behind you, taking note of the metal structure built on the side of the road.

You struggle to decide whether or not you want to steal his umbrella as payback for being the way he was but ultimately ditched the idea. “Fine, I’ll see next week then? That is, if you don’t get eaten by a gumiho that is.” You teased.

You watched as annoyance contorted on his face, wanting to find a reason to be mad at you but unable to keep the grin off his face. “I’m not going to be eaten by a gumiho, Y/N. Did we not just have the conversation that they aren’t real?”

“Gumihos seduce men to absorb their energy!” You argued once more. “You’re a physically fit guy whose kept his livers healthy and you’ve got the looks to draw attention to you, you’re the perfect meal for a nine tailed fox to catch!”

“Go home, Y/N,” he urged, pushing you out from under his umbrella. You whined at his audacity and quickly covered your head with your hands in an attempt to shield yourself from the rain. The boy only laughed at your reaction before waving you off, giving you a small farewell as you rushed over towards the bus stop.

When you glanced back to find him again, Juyeon was gone, turned around the corner with his umbrella in tow and forcing you to sit and wait for the bus stop to come if you didn’t want to be soaked by the time you got home.

“Sheesh he could have waited until the bus actually came,” you complained, sitting back on the bench with a somewhat annoyed frown donning your face once again. Juyeon always seemed like he was in a hurry at times, whether he was sneaking around the dorms on your campus or rushing through the hallways to get to his next destination, he always had somewhere to be. There were times where he’d completely ignore your existence in and outside of your mythology class because of his need for action, too busy with his daily life to even spare you a glance.

You wondered where he so urgently needed to go at times, but ultimately knew that was none of your business. The two of you were nothing but classmates, school friends who helped each other out every so often whenever you got the chance. You had no right to dig into Juyeon’s business, so you never tried to cross the line the two of you set up for each other. You don’t really know if you wanted to cross it in the first place.

Besides, he never even said hello to whenever he was in a rush! Why bother trying to discover something where he has to completely ignore your existence to do it? That wasn’t exactly your type of information and gossip you wanted to gather and indulge in.

You sat at the bus stop for around three or four minutes, unwillingly listening to the pitter patter of the rain on the bus stop glass. Like your superstitious instructor, you weren’t very fond of the rain but not for the same reasons. The weather would always ruin plans you had been looking forward to for weeks and the days that came after it always felt humid and musty, you didn’t enjoy the aftermath of rain like other people did.

Don’t even get you started on the days where a thunderstorm would roll over the city, those were the worst days of your life.

You snap out of your daze for a moment, however, completely forgetting your hatred for the raining weather at the sound of barking floating through the air. You tried to ignore it at first, comfortably leaning against the side of the structure and scrolling across your phone to distract yourself, but you couldn’t help it. The more you tried to pretend like the sound didn’t exist the louder it seemed to become, which was a lot seeing as the downpour was a little louder than normal.

Begrudgingly, you stood up out of your seat and shoved your phone deep into your pockets. “Is the universe trying to tell me something today?” You mumbled, covering your head with your hands and stepping out into the rain. You peered across the street where the barking was coming, checking the side of the road for any oncoming cars before rushing to the other side.

The closer you got to the other sidewalk, the louder and more distinct the barking became, resembling more of a young dog than a fully grown one. The barks were more closely related to squeaky toes than anything if you had to be honest; light, annoying, and young. But there was no one else on the street beside you, and your morals were telling you to involve yourself instead of run away.

“Puppy...or puppies?” You called, not exactly having a name to call out for the animals. You don’t even know if they could hear you over the rainfall, but it was worth a shot. If they didn’t come running to you soon you were going to run right back to the bus stop for shelter and go home. You didn’t want to fall ill from standing out in the rain for too long and you didn’t want to miss your bus stop either. “Come here, boy! Or girl…? Whatever you are, come here! I’ll get you some place warm and out of the rain.”

There was no response, which was to be expected. They were animals, not humans, so they couldn’t exactly reply back even if they really wanted to. The barking was still echoing across the area but there was no sign of the animal making all the commotion, not to mention the fact that the rain was beginning to fall harder with each passing second. You might have to give up early if you didn’t want to get caught in a potential thunderstorm, it hurt your heart but you had to take care of yourself as well.

“Ah, I better hurry up before I miss the bus home… walking is going to be a pain if I do,” you mumble to yourself, turning to sprint across the street.

Though you stopped yourself from moving when you heard the sound of bells echoing against your ears, ringing loud and clear within your head as if it was right in front of you. You cautiously look around you for the source of the bells, the jingling rippling out to the rest of the world like a droplet of water falling into a lake. The bells chimed again in your head, yet this time pulling in a certain direction and urging you to continue on that way.

Glancing between the bus stop and the direction you were being pulled toward, you followed the jingling of the bells. Everything in your body was telling you that chasing after the ringing was a bad idea but nevertheless you pushed forward. The dog barking had completely gone silent and the loudest thing in the area was no longer the rain, but the bells in your ears.

You scurried across the sidewalk like a cat, trying your best to stay dry in the unfortunate weather but ultimately failing as you began to feel your clothes stick to your skin. “Ah, there’s no way I’m not going to be sick after this.” You mumbled, turning the corner to peer down an alleyway where the bell chiming was the strongest.

“I’m wet and cold and I’ve been out here for way too— oh my god!” A scream fell out your mouth as you tumbled to the ground petrified by the sight before you. Slumped up against the wall was a boy, barely clinging onto his life as he took slow ragged breaths to keep himself stable. On his arms was the familiar crimson red creeping down his forehead and splattering to the ground, creating a mixture of water and blood pooling underneath him.

Did you just find the end results of a bloody fight? In the middle of the city and close to your college’s campus no less?

“Excuse me, are you alright?” You called out to him, mentally smacking yourself for asking such a question. Clearly the boy wasn’t okay, he was bleeding out in the middle of the rain!

Despite the stupidity of the question, he slowly turned his head toward you. A majority of his face was covered by his hair being plastered against his head thanks to the rain so you couldn’t exactly see if he was looking directly at you, but the mere fact that he was responsive was enough for you.

You hurry over to him as fast as you could, though careful not to slip and fall on the slippery ground, before crouching down next to him. “Can you move at all? It’s not good to sit out here in the rain and waste away, you need to go to a hospital or something—“

“No,” he declined, forcing himself to sit up against the wall and make an attempt to stand up. The boy struggled to himself up right, leaning against the wall for support and the severity of his wounds being put on display. It didn’t look like he got into a fight, per se, more like he had been attacked by an animal. He had large gashes that covered his body and his clothes were tattered and stained with the red hue they leaked down his arm. He needed any sort of medical attention, right away or he might actually bleed out in the middle of the alleyway.

“Can you not see that you’re hurt?” You hissed, grabbing a hold of his wrist and tugging him down to your height. The boy grimaced at your toughness as you rolled up his sleeve, catching sight of an ugly yet fresh scar that needed to be addressed immediately. “You need to go to a hospital, or you’ll die out here in the rain.”

“No,” he challenged you, his face somewhat akin to an animal’s snarl as he tried to snatch his arm away from you. In that instance you heard the soft of the bells that had led you down the alleyway, much louder than they had been before and nearly drowning at the words that the boy had spoken. It sounded like… the ringing was coming directly from him. “I can’t go there, I won’t go there. They won’t be able to help anyway.”

“Are you an idiot?” You couldn’t help but ask, almost scoffing at his persistence to stay away from medically trained professionals. His lips formed into a pout, appalled by the fact that you had the audacity to call him an idiot. “I’m trying to help you man. It’s raining, you’re bleeding out, and I’ve probably missed my ride to go home. Please don't take my kindness for granted and let me help you.”

III.

You laid down in the middle of your bed, staring at your ceiling as you struggled to recall the events from the day before. It’s not like you to forget things easily or anything, in fact you had a rather decent memory when it came to remembering events that had taken place beforehand. You didn’t have a photographic memory, you just had a habit of remembering little details that have happened throughout your day.

But right now? You couldn’t remember a single thing that had happened yesterday.

Most of what you could remember was leaving your mythology early because your teacher had ended the class early. He didn’t like the rain and it had shifted his mood and everyone was grateful for the extra time off. Juyeon had generously offered to walk you to your bus stop with his umbrella so that you could get home without getting rained on and…. that’s where it ends. You can’t recall anything that happened after that. You don’t even remember ever walking into your house the more that you think about it.

“Alright, this is weird,” you declare, forcing yourself to sit up off of the bed. At least you had no classes to attend, you don’t know how you could pay attention to anything you were being taught if you had to deal with your sudden memory loss. “Why can’t I remember anything? Why does it feel like what u forgot was something really important too…?”

Just when you felt as though you were on the verge of pulling your hair out, your phone began to ring. It was a lot louder than you originally set the volume on and was practically screaming at you to pick it up instead of ignoring it like normal. Frustrated, you snatched the device from underneath the sheets and answered the call with a much more aggressive “hello?” than you had meant to start with.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Juyeon’s voice registered through the speaker.

Juyeon. Why was Juyeon calling you right now? The two of you don’t usually call each other unless it was something class related because you weren’t close enough to each other to hold conversations like that. So the mere fact that he had called you out of the blue like this was…. weird to say the least. “Of course,” you replied, giving your voice a lighter tone than when you had answered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You called me a couple of times yesterday but I didn’t answer because I was busy,” he clarified, giving you a little peek as to what had happened the day before.

You called Juyeon first, why would you do that? You didn’t even call him once, but multiple times given the way he had worded his sentence. You’re not even close to Juyeon, why would you even dare to call him several times yesterday? If you were in trouble you should have just called Kevin like normal! “Are you saying you don’t remember?”

“Yes, actually, I don’t remember anything that happened yesterday.” Maybe you had gone to go get a drink or something before coming home and that’s why your thoughts from yesterday were blurry. But you’re not the type of person to drink that much, at least not alone you wouldn’t. “Listen, Juyeon, I’m sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean to call you, I was just… out of it or something. I don’t know I just can’t remember right now.”

“It’s fine, Y/N, don’t worry I’m just glad you’re alright. I got worried something might have happened to you but hearing you now makes me relieved.” You smiled at his words, letting his caring words for you twirl around in your head like ribbons. Juyeon was just too nice to you, honestly, but he was probably like this with everyone he knew. It made sense if he was, he was kind to almost everyone he met.

Before you could answer, the jingling of bells echoing through your ears, distracting you from any other words that might have come out of the boy’s mouth. You glanced around the room for shunting that could have made the noise, but you don't exactly have anything that could chime like the whimsical clicking of a wind chime. “Do you hear that?” You asked him, cutting off the boy mid sentence as you stood up.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” he answered, “what am I supposed to be hearing? All I hear is you.”

In a flash all of the memories from the day before flooding back to you. The barking, the bell ringing, and the injured boy who refused to go to the hospital to treat his wounds. It all came back to you now, but why had it gone away in the first place. “I’ll… I’ll call you back, Juyeon.”

“Y/N? Y/N, what's wrong? Is something—“ you hung up before he could finish his sentence, cautiously following the ever growing sounds of the bells you had heard earlier. The closer you got to your door, the louder the chiming became, probably signifying the fact that you were going in the right direction.The last time you had followed the bells, they led you straight to the wounded boy. So if your hunch was right, it was most likely leading you straight back to him.

You carefully opened the door to your room, peering through the crack in the door frame to see what was going on. It was eerily silent and for the most the entirety of your apartment showed no signs of inhabiting a second person. “That’s odd…,” you noted, fully stepping out of your room to look around the room for the boy from yesterday. It seemed as though he hadn’t even lived in your house for an hour. “I don’t think he ever left… and I still can hear those bells so he can’t be far.”

Goosebumps ran down your spine as a cold wind blew through your living room. Something was off, you’ve never felt uneasy in your own home before. You had picked this apartment to live in because it felt comfortable and warm like home, but the only thing you were getting from it now was the feeling of being watched. As if a pair of eyes were carefully taking in your every move to determine how you’d react next.

“I know, you’re here,” you stated, rolling your eyes as you began to turn around. “You couldn’t have left in the middle of the night, you were bleeding out and collapsed as soon as you—“

You stopped mid sentence when you stopped the boy in the hallway to your bathroom, frazzled and confused by his surroundings yet still keeping a close eye on you. Now that he wasn’t soaking wet and bleeding (thanks to your amateur bandaging skills) you couldn’t help but notice how much more innocent without the dramatic effect of everything that had happened yesterday. “You really are still here, nice to see you didn’t die while I was asleep.”

“Where am I?” He demanded, not as aggressive as he was the day before but still in a rather rude tone you weren’t expecting from him. “How did I get here and… who are you?”

You slumped onto the small couch of your living room, glancing around the room for a moment before turning back to him with a cheeky smile on your face. “Heaven. You died in your sleep and now you’re in heaven. In the goddess that's going to accompany you through the afterlife.”

“Lies, you just said I didn’t die while I was sleeping,” he quickly pointed out, catching your lie as soon as it came out your mouth.

“Woah, despite all those injuries and passing out in the way here you still have a working brain, that’s good to know,” you tease him, watching as the boy rolled his eyes at your tiny jabs. “I’m Y/N but i guess you can just call me your savior really. Oh, and this is my house. You slept on the couch last night and I appreciate the fact that there is no blood on my cushions. Thanks.”

He nodded his head in understanding, though it seemed like the movements weren't actually correlating to what his mind was thinking. “Wait, you’re my… savior? No that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why not?” You questioned, “I saw you bleeding out in an alleyway yesterday and I tried to take you to hospital but you kept refusing to go, so I just… took you home. I address your wounds and everything and just hoped that when I woke up there wouldn’t be a corpse in my living room. Luckily, as we see now, there isn’t. I saved your life.”

“No!” He yelled, rolling up his tattered clothes to find messily wrapped bandages all over his body. “Why would you do that?”

“Because you were dying?” You blurted, confused to the boy’s sudden panic. “What would you rather have bled out in public for all to see?”

“Yes, actually, that would have been the better option of the two.” How ungrateful was this boy? You saved his life and all he has to say is that he wished you didn’t? Maybe you should have strayed away from your morals for a second because all that had gotten you so far was a boy with no manners. “I don’t think you realize what you’ve done.”

“I have realized what I’ve done,” you responded, “I’ve saved your life because I’m a good person. Why are we arguing about this, there are no downsides to getting your lives saved. Wait, are you embarrassed because you got attacked by some feral cat and nearly died? Not gonna lie, I’d be embarrassed about something like that too.”

“I wasn’t… attacked by a cat,” he explained, a scoff threatening to spill out of his mouth at your bizarre accusation. “I don’t think a cat could make those types of scars.”

“If it wasn’t a cat…” you began, thinking aloud as you tried to member the wounds that covered the boy’s body. The more you pictured them in your head. The more you realize those weren’t… cat scars. They still seemed as though they were animal scars but a cat didn’t make that big a gash on a person’s body. You should have known, you’ve gone to cat cafes enough to have learned the hard way. “Then what…?”

“Gumihos,” the boy replied, tearing off the bandages you had wrapped around him the night before. You winced as you watched your handwork tumble to the ground, but were more concerned over the fact that the gashes on his arm were healed almost completely overnight. “I was attacked by gumihos.”

“Nine tailed foxes?” You blurted, more for yourself than the boy. Seeing you bewilderment made a smile begin to etch across his lips, childish yet mischievous as you tried to break down what you had learned in your head. “But… those are just folklore, they aren’t real. If they were, one would have been caught by humans at this point.

“Why? Don’t you know that a gumiho can shapeshift? They live among humans as if they were any other mortal in order to get what they want in life,” the boy explained, reminding you of the words you had thrown at Juyeon for making the same excuse. “You really think that they’d let a human catch sight of their existence and get away with it?”

“Okay then answer me this,” you ask, sitting up attentive to the stranger you had brought into your home. “If gumihos are real… then why did one attack you and leave you out to die? Don’t they usually kill humans for their livers and hearts? You should have been devoured by now.”

A hearty laugh left the boy’s mouth, much stronger and louder than the small giggle from earlier. His smile couldn’t stop growing on his face as he blinked his eyes at you, the dark browns of his iris swapping out to a bold amber yellow color. His pupils slowly began to dilate into the familiar small slits of a cat’s as your own eyes widened in pure fright. The boy you had saved had now become your greatest mistake. “What makes you think I’m human?”

IV.

“Juyeon!” You hissed at the boy, urging him to come to you once you had finally caught sight of him. He was walking with a group of his friends, people who hadn’t mingled with and didn’t know whether or not you wanted to in the first place. When the boy had turned his head to you, the entirety of his friend group did as well, displaying their bright and eager smiles as they waved their hands in greeting. Awkwardly you greeted them back, unsure of what to do next as they also whispered and muttered to themselves as they let Juyeon break from their group.

Hopefully it was something nice and not anything that could hurt your feelings. They were still grinning and jeering with each other despite whatever comments they were making, so maybe it was a conversation of their approval. Or at least… you hoped it was, you couldn’t really tell the difference. You acted like you had a tough shell but in reality you were way too soft when it came to a stranger’s perspective of you.

“What’s up Y/N?” He greeted, a fond smile plastered across his face as he stood in front of you with his hands shoved in his pockets. “It’s a rare sight to see you interact with me when we don’t have a class together. It must be serious.”

“Well…” you trailed off, unsure of how to explain to him. “I guess it’s serious? But nothing too serious… I need some advice really, that’s all.”

“Advise?” Juyeon questioned, intrigued by the topic you had brought him. “Wow… of all the people could have chosen, you need my advice! I can’t help but say I’m honored. But what happened to your other friend… Kevin was his name, right? He would come to walk you home after class sometimes, why aren’t you asking him?”

You grimace at the thought of the boy before quickly waving the thought away. “Kevin will just think I’m crazy and make fun of me. Plus, I think you’re probably most equipped to help me out here since we take mythology together and all.”

“Ah… still keeping this as a school oriented friendship right?” He teased, getting a small laugh to leave your mouth. “Alright, what is it? What mythological help do you need this time? I’m all ears.”

You hesitated for a moment, unsure on how to word your sentences without sounding insane. The whole reason you had gone to Juyeon instead of Chanhee was because he would understand you a little better than your friend could. “Gumihos… you know how we’re learning about them currently, right? Is there something that people should know about them in order to protect themselves from one?”

Juyeon raised a brow at your question, staying silent as he thought to himself. “Gumihos? I thought you didn’t want to learn about gumihos because it was pop culture and everyone knows about them?”

“Well, what can I say!” You exclaimed, hoping to cover up your nervousness as much as possible. “I decided to take up a personal essay of sorts on those nine tailed foxes. I got intrigued a few days ago about them and I wanted to get as much information as I could about them, but we don’t go back to our mythology class until I… really can’t wait to get started.”

In reality, you actually had that gumiho boy holed up in your apartment still. In fear of the boy actually attempting to devour your liver you had locked him up in your bathroom and placed a talisman on the door so that he couldn’t escape. You had absolutely no clue on how to deal with a gumiho and you had only recently started your lesson on the fox spirits a few days ago. So needless to say, you wanted to be prepared for whatever might come next while housing him.

“That’s fair,” Juyeon agreed, taking your lie like candy and smiling brightly back at you. “I mean, the concept of nine tailed foxes are pretty cool, so I can’t blame you for looking into them a little further than everyone else.”

“So?” You asked, eagerly awaiting his answer, “Do you have any information I should know?”

“Well… there's this one thing I’ve been told before by my grandparents,” he explained, trying his best to recall past memories that had no use up until now. “Yeah, they would use old myths as stories to tell me before bed when I was a kid. They told me that no matter what fork a gumiho comes in, never let them kiss you.”

“Kiss?” You blurted out, shocked that that was the one thing he decided to share. “What’s kissing got to do with fox spirits?”

“It’s how they take your energy,” Juyeon told you, putting his pointer fingers together as if mimicking a kiss between two people. “When a gumiho kisses you, they absorb your energy. The more energy they absorb the weaker you become until you eventually die! Kinda scary, right? Not only do they feed off of human livers, but our mere life essence.”

“What type of bedtime story is that,” you mumbled, skeptically glancing over Juyeon. If that was the type of stories he was being told as a child, how was he not a little messed up in the head? If you were him, you would be absolutely terrified of everything even approaching you. Who knew when someone would randomly come up and kiss you? Your first and last kiss would be from a fox trying to steal your life away!

“I was very easy to tease as a child,” he shrugged, his smile turning sheepish as he softly scratched the back of his neck. “My grandparents loved telling me stories like that because I was an emotional little kid, ease to scare and quick to try and stuff like that.”

“That makes a little more sense,” you nodded, “no sane person would tell that as a bedtime story, it’s always got to be told to a child that’s easily scared.”

“Yeah, yeah, say what you want. If they hadn’t told them those stories of gumihos, I probably wouldn’t be taking mythology now,” Juyeon explained, glancing back toward the direction your shared class was. “And if I didn’t take mythology, you wouldn’t have any friends in that class.”

You shrug in response, he was right. If Juyeon had decided that he didn’t want to take the mythology course you probably wouldn’t have ever met him in the first place. So that was one good thing that had come out of his grandparents scaring him into the folklore of nine tailed foxes. “If you don’t mind me asking by the way,” the boy continued, switching topics while he still had your attention. “Whatever happened that day? You said you’d call me back but you never did. I can’t lie, I was a little worried for you again.”

“Ah, that,” you stall, struggling to make up a lie off the time of your head. You felt bad for lying to Juyeon more than you already were, you heard what he said! He’s worried about you and you didn’t want to put any more of load onto his back with your supernatural problems. “Well, I think I’ve got spirits in my house. I’ve been hearing weird noises sometimes and I thought you could hear it too, that’s why I asked.”

“Funny how things like this happen to a mythology student, huh? I wonder what kind of spirit has skipped their way into your house then.” Juyeon laughed, shaking his head at the ironic situation you had got yourself in, “well if you ever find yourself needing a home away from home, my dorm room is always open? We’d have to clean up a little bit before you arrive and sneak you in but anything to get away from spirits, right?”

#kpop imagines #kpop #kpop au #kpop scenarios #the boyz x reader #the boyz sunwoo #sunwoo x reader #kim sunwoo #sunwoo imagines #tbz sunwoo #sunwoo au #tbz au #juyeon x reader #lee juyeon #juyeon imagines #the boyz juyeon #juyeon au

171 notes · View notes

saltminerising · 3 years

Text

Running An Art Shop With Minimal Crying 101

Hey y’all, not sure what compelled me to write this Now but I wanted to put together a list of helpful ‘good business practice’ tips for artists who want to start selling commissions on FR and want to build up a good reputation and make bank. I’m not sure if I’d feel comfortable throwing this on the forums personally so here you go, y’all have to look at my stupidly long possibly helpful brutally honest post cuz I don’t know where else to put this.

I’ve been doing art on FR since I was a young teenager in 2015 and through that time I’ve definitely learned some lessons the hard way. I’ve taken on more than I could handle, I’ve let commissions rot for months because I got overwhelmed… you know what I mean. Here’s some of what I’ve learned over the years that’s helped me run a consistently successful art shop for well over a year now.

I don’t have a tumblr and I don’t know how to add a ‘read more’ to a submission, so happy scrolling <3 I apologize for causing some people a very minor inconvenience

-Do not take prepayment for either more than three commissions at a time, or more than the number of commissions you think you can finish within a month or two, whichever is smaller. This is especially true if you’re like me and you have ADHD. Trust me, the more commissions people have already paid for you have piled up in your to-do list, even if they’d only take you 20 minutes each, you will get more overwhelmed and discouraged and people will wonder why it’s taking you so long. Even if you aren’t getting concerned PMs, a lot of people are just too anxious or polite to ask for updates. (On the flipside, if you commissioned someone and haven’t gotten any word/updates in a while, you’re not in the wrong to ask how things are going and when you can expect an update.)

-Full payment upfront is something I definitely recommend for smaller pieces (headshots, sketches, etc) you can finish in one sitting. However- if you’re doing a ref sheet, a rendered fullbody, etc, and you’ll be spending multiple sessions on the piece and getting feedback for it multiple times- split it up, take half upfront and half either after the sketch is approved, or before you send them the final unwatermarked version. I’ve done dozens of commissions like this and never had a problem, personally. There’s a low chance of a customer backing out on you if you’ve already started and sent WIPs because, y’know, sunk cost, and on the other hand it is reassuring to customers (especially if your shop is new) that if you drop off the map, they paid $20 upfront and got at least a sketch, instead of paying $40 upfront for an unfinished piece.

-In the same vein: if you’re doing a large piece like a rendered fullbody, ref sheet, etc, more communication is always better than less! I always stay on the safe side here. Some people will tell you they just want you to go apeshit and do whatever you think will look cool, other people might have much more specific ideas of what they want and how closely your artwork needs to match the image of their character in their head. Send them the sketch and ask them if they want any changes. Send them the lineart and ask if it looks good. If you’re working on a time-consuming painting that will take you weeks to finish, please please please, communicate! Send updates! Your customers will feel a lot less anxious about how long you’re taking if you keep them posted (plus this is just a personal thing but I love seeing peoples’ artistic process, it sparks joy!!)

-If, once again, you’re like me and stuff like painted fullbodies take you so much longer than other commission types- the worst thing you can do is underprice. Let’s say a detailed, shaded dragon fullbody takes you, for instance, 8 hours, maybe longer because you get burned out and can’t finish it in just one sitting, but you don’t think people will buy an $80/8kg fullbody. Do not lower the price you think your art is worth. If fullbodies take you really long compared to other art, or you get unmotivated, just… don’t offer painted fullbodies, or scenes with multiple characters, or whatever. If there’s a form of art you’re capable of creating but it’s faster, more fun, and gets you more money to do smaller things, just do more smaller commissions instead of taking the big ones. This one was a lifesaver for me.

-Once again in the same vein: It is okay to say no. Just because you are physically/artistically capable of drawing a detailed scene of multiple dragons with complex apparel, doesn’t mean you won’t get burnt out or bored. For me, larger pieces take exponentially longer because I just get bored and don’t want to work on them anymore. If someone asks if you can draw something that will require so much of your personal time and effort to go into a single piece, just say no. Sometimes I’ll say yes to some big commissions because I think the character is cool and inspiring and I want to draw them; otherwise, I will admit, I’ve said no to big commissions because I personally found the character boring as hell (though I wouldn’t phrase it that way). And that’s ok!

-If you are going to be really busy in the near future, stop taking commissions. You have finals? Don’t say “sorry if things take forever, I have finals”… just don’t take the commissions while you’re busy. If you have too much on your plate, commissions will just stress you out more, and nobody likes to draw motivated by stress. There’s nothing wrong with temporarily pausing your art shop. Put your mental health first. And if you aren’t able to get commissions done on a regular basis because of mental health, or because you don’t give enough of a shit about other peoples’ characters: don’t do commissions. I don’t mean this in a bad way; I’ve been in that spot before and it’ll just cause more stress and guilt than it’s worth.

-NO PARAGRAPHS. That sounds hypocritical of me writing this lol but do not put long paragraphs in your art shop, ever. I promise nobody will read it. Put your rules, and any other information, in bullet points that are one or two lines. Keep your rules clear, simple, unambiguous and short, or everyone will ignore it and I won’t blame them. Put titles and subtitles wherever you can. If you have a block of text longer than probably five lines, it will be ignored by most people. I have decided not to buy art from people because I didn’t want to have to dig through blocks of text for information.

….so yeah I think that’s about all I can think of at the moment. time to sit back and get yelled at for not being able to shut the fuck up and get to the point lol, hope you (yes you) have a great day c:

#submission #long post #art tag 🏷

44 notes · View notes

valaks · 3 years

Note

Hey Valaks! I love your blog and your writing!

Please could you do 1, 10 and 18 for the writing asks?? 🌺

Thank you for the ask! I have added a cut to hopefully not be that person clogging up the feed XD

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

I have a few collabs outstanding like Gemini and a Kabir/Alex sequel to Reunion (It’s rated T at the most so still kid friendly) with Lupin and Devil Went Down to Georgia with Galimau. My utter love for both of my collab partners for pulling me through at a time when I’ve been really struggling. I have a WIPs List but I’ll confess to not having touched most of them in quite sometime (partly from life, partly because I’m not sure how interesting they’d be to anyone else other than me which influences my writing more than I would like to admit):

Good Intentions: Smithers never thought he’d be anyone’s moral compass, he was no angel to sit in anyone’s shoulder but trying to keep Alex Rider from following in the ruthless footsteps of his father or worse his former handler, Alan Blunt is as close to hell as he can imagine. (Wherein Alex becomes head of MI6 we watch his morality slip away form the eyes of an increasingly frustrated and heartbroken Smithers - it all culminates when Alex uses a child “just as an informant, simple information gathering” but hidden behind the charming smile of John Rider and the brutal coldness of Alan Blunt’s words is Alex Rider dying as he says them (Smithers just hopes there’s still a part of the boy he once knew in there to mourn)

Walk the Line: Alex thought he was done with SCORPIA. But they kept creeping back into his life in the most unexpected of ways. He thought he could at least count on it being on the other side until he gets teamed up with Walker, his former classmate and current CIA spy. Unfortunately he still hasn’t been able to figure out whose side Walker is really on - attempted deep cover op like his dad, repatriated rogue spy back on the “good” side, or SCORPIA double agent? He doesn’t know but at least he’s nice....in that obnoxious American way.

Temperamental: (Sequel to Sentimental which isn’t all that popular and you would need to read it for the sequel but basically amnesiac Yassen whose memories stop pre John’s betrayal set during the Stormbreaker mission and features him trying to come to grips with the use of chemical weapons against children and how to handle Alex once he snaps back to reality which is where this starts) Yassen had promised Alex Rider that he would be safe from the world of spying but fate had other ideas. In the days after Sarov’s failed plan, Yassen scrambles to find where MI6 have hidden his wayward charge without drawing Rothman’s attention. A request from one of their existing clients to look into suspicious activity at his son’s former school prompts Yassen to investigate under the guise of offering security. He should have known where there was trouble there would be Alex.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

Lordy do I ever not have a good answer for this. Typically it involves an idea hitting me and then the determination: would this idea work better as a short to post on tumblr (because the set up would take away the tension or would require a multi chapter which is not really my strength), as a prompt to lob out into the ether for someone better and brighter to touch on, or a fic. Once fic is decided I determine whose perspective the fic would be the most interesting from either because it would create the most tension or their internal monologue/background knowledge would add the most to it. Then the summary is written and a title is chosen. If it’s something I’m really passionate about and I already have it in my head I tend to write it all in one go, if there’s more I need to chew on then it’s a series of dates with the Evil Writing App. The final determination is whether it’s good enough for Valaks or if it gets sent to an alt account.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

Allegedly. I’ll try to go in order of posting -

Ruthless has a sequel where Alex just goes *quiet* once the initial dust as settled it’s unnerving to everyone because they’re not used to having to wonder just what Alex is thinking, at least not behind closed doors but what happened isn’t exactly something that can be recovered from easily, not when Alex isn’t sure who all’s in on it no matter what they’ve told him. Failure is the AU where I considered what would happen to Alex to make him want to torture.

Alibi was originally going to have Yassen show up in the end but I found it far more fascinating if MI6 was just testing Alex so out went Yassen and in went Ben. The sequel to it was torn apart and turned into Warm Reception because I wanted to trope flip SCORPIA comes to Brooklands and decided that it was more logical to have a small fight in Mrs. Bedfordshire’s lobby than anywhere else and I wanted to explore some side characters instead of Ben.

Providence’s sequel thoughts ended up inspiring Gentleman’s Agreement but I did write a small short for it “Yassen and Alex encounter each other on mission. Surprisingly they are working to mostly the same goal - Yassen needs to kill the millionaire who Alex needs to get information from. “I suppose I could answer some questions for you, Sasha. /In Russian/“ “Is now really the time for a language lesson?” he ground out in frustration but the man pointedly ignored him “/Fine but I don’t know some of the words/“ “/Then there is no better way to learn/“

I mentioned the Sentimental sequel but changing Sarov to come first and probable for almost a month before Yassen figures out he’s missing made the most sense. It was also a bit of fun at the Yassen would absolutely take Alex away from MI6....just to throw him in a school and throw away the key. Almost had him send him to Point Blanc but decided that wouldn’t quite fit all that well and wouldn’t be as interesting as if Alex had already gotten his feet back under him with MI6 and now sees that Yassen was right that MI6 would just use him until he’s dead but that doesn’t mean Alex wants to be anywhere near Yassen. Julia Rothman might have other ideas when she finds out what her newest second in command is hiding.

Gentleman’s Agreement.....there’s a lot of thoughts on Sequels and AUs, a lot of them have been written by better people, but that fic was written in 45 minutes so there wasn’t much time to recharacterize or change scenes. It did get Turncoat aka the Alex saves Yassen fic I wanted so badly.

Blood Brothers is a fic I really worked hard on considering how John would feel about his son being thrown into SCORPIA assuming Alex was of age. A rocky marriage was characterization that didn’t quite fit what I imagined would have happened but did fit the story so it stayed in. It was a fic that was supposed to get expanded on - the competition between Hunter and Yassen and Nile and Alex who is desperate to beat his Dad and his “apprentice”. I think two teenagers thrown against each other with a bit of a bone to pick, especially Yassen and Alex who can both hold a grudge even if one runs hot and the other runs cold, would have been compelling and a little fun but the premise and specifically John’s characterization doesn’t quite work out to me.

Found and Legends both have their plotting done but it’ll never see the light of day

Little Moments and Sweetest Thing were my guilty pleasure writing pieces for a while and I have about 1000 DMs of scenes for both of them that are lost to the sands of time and an embarrassing amount of self indulgence

Mates has a follow up ending for those who needed resolution in the comments of it. I’m not sure I did a good job of showing that Tom was in a semi abusive relationship since a lot of people seemed to blame him for him and Alex’s breakup. Most of my headcanons for how their relationship goes have them splitting much sooner just because of Tom’s own home life and either being unable to relate/talk to Alex and drifting away because his Mom throwing a plate at his head isn’t being hung over crocodiles but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt or because Alex is just too dangerous/jumpy to be thrown back into a school environment and lashes out even unintentionally especially not under the pressure of being seen as a failure. School is also a barometer of just how much he’s lost of himself and his childhood, bonus points for Alex being completely upfront with Tom about everything he’s done

In My Sights has an AU where this is all post Christmas at Gunpoint and Yassen is there because he knows Ian is already at Sayle’s factory and will have to be...handled. So two weeks of just getting Alex trained for the protection he might need, connecting him to resources, etc. Ian finding out that Yassen had been there was part of a draft at one point which was included Alex wondering about an all too sincere goodbye from Ian “who never hugged him” but I can’t find the snippet anymore ;__;

A Warm Reception was an alternate version. Originally I wanted it to be Alex watching his last chance at normality slip from his fingers and then the crushing realization that it was something that was his own doing, not even MI6 but Skoda who he had picked a fight with and the accompanying breakdown but then decided that Mrs. Bedfordshire was the right way to go upon writing the summary. Because everyone loves some Outsider POV

Adopted was supposed to be a one chapter throw away trope flip of K Unit adopts Alex. I kept it pretty consistent with Amitai and Lil Lupin’s K Units, tried to add in some more characterization just in how they treated some of the details. It has an alt ending/chapter where they find out Alex is Cub when they pull him from Three’s tender mercies almost by accident. I was persuaded into light humored fluff via guilt trip.

The Truth and Other Deadly Weapons has Ben acting exactly like he think he would in front of everyone but my AU was that this interaction happened in the field and absolutely shattered Ben’s trust in him partly because he had worked for the other side and partly because even if it ‘wasn’t as bad as it looks’ it showed a severe lack of judgment. It also featured several chapters of Alex running into the glass ceiling that is having “Member Malogosto Class of 2004” on your resume. Was going to feature Alex running into Walker as well and into problems within MI6 and the CIA but that was eventually cut and it was kept to one chapter.

Guardian....Guardian holds a very special place in my heart. I was given the prompt of a Monster Fic and I wrote what I knew but the interesting parts were all the ones that come after the story but might come across to a general audience as Hogwarts School of Prayers and Miracles. The plotting done post this was going to feature baby Angel Alex reuniting with his parents but...they were strangers to him and so he stayed with Yassen more and more, followed him, learned from him....it encompassed everything from the dynamics of broken families to reflections on theology and references from the Good Book....which is why it’ll never see the fandom but has a very special place in my heart.

In another, more perfect world Glocking Around the Christmas Tree is the Die hard fic this fandom deserves but as Lupin and I untangled the plot of the movie more and more we just couldn’t make it into anything that would be coherent on paper so it was changed and changed and is now a half finished sad abomination that sits on my works list only because Lupin would kill me if I took it down.

Hot Shot was supposed to feature my current favorite character that is not Nile Abara, John Crawley but I wimped out and changed it at the end because I swore I would write the Crawley fic that we all need. Hear me out: John Crawley knew and worked with John and Ian Rider, was respected by both of them, was recruited by SCORPIA within one year in the field, is the Chief of Staff of MI6, the man who “no one gets a knife in the back without him signing off” and is also the man who walks his dog to check on Alex. There’s a mentorship waiting to happen there, preferably in a nice work study program during college where Alex finally gets to see the repercussions of his missions and Crawley helps try and pull him back from the black mark that SCORPIA would have put on him.

My personal fluffy favorite is the spinoff of Devil Went Down to Georgia where Joe Byrne did pull Alex out post Skeleton Key and brought him home. There’s a pretty extended one about where Tom ends up after Mates. There’s also an actual sequel but ask me no questions and all.

Skipping a few collabs and Febuwhump fics but Burning Questions was just supposed to be Branded - a fic where upon being captured by Razim he is brought in and forcibly branded to differentiate the appearances of Alex and Julius (since Razim has decided to have him killed after shooting the Secretary of State). As a result of the pain levels spiking when Alex actually sees that the SCORPIA logo is branded onto his cheek Razim considers that emotional pain might be something to investigate. There’s a couple thousand words on it, one day I might polish it up.

First Impressions is supposed to be a mirror verse of Alex working for MI6 which includes Three as Blunt, Rothman as Jones and of course Sagitta as K Unit while he’s up against his father as Yassen and Yassen as Crawley. But it was cut down significantly even if the ideas are pretty fun to consider.

Sorry this was probably more than you bargained for but it was fun to get everything out there so thank you for asking

#alex rider #alex rider fanfiction #Im so sorry #I just have a lot

17 notes · View notes

youhideastar · 3 years

Note

your list of wips looks so exciting and intriguing! I very much want to ask about all of them, but I’d love to hear about Don’t carry me too far away.doc, The Primrose Path to Threesome.doc, and Knocked your heart right out of sync.doc - if you’re comfortable sharing about them while they are wips.

sending you all my best 💖💕💖💕

Hello, hello, hello! Wishing you the best, too! So this is a response to this post, and let’s see... “Don’t carry me too far away” is theoretically a soulbond sequel PWP but I wrote it *mumblemumble* years ago when I was writing the original They Say Love Heals All Wounds story, and the vibe between the characters in the sequels ended up being a little... softer and more mature, I guess? So what I really should do is just post it as a standalone but I keep thinking, “If I just tweak it a little, it can fit in-universe!” and then not doing that. One of these days I’ll make up my mind!

The Primrose Path to Threesome is my long-promised fic in the A Keener Eye universe leading up to a Sid/Geno/Ovi threesome - the three characters are just SO particular, they really don’t want to get into bed with each other without like 30K of angsty hurt/comfort first, so I continue to slog away at that but it’s fun! We’ll get there in the end. My Jaromir epic is just eating up all of my damn time and attention and probably will until it’s finished, so *shrug emoji*. Uh, in case it needs saying, that will NOT be the actual title of the fic!

“Knocked your heart right out of sync” is my baby - maybe the draft I feel most tender about. It’s a Rule 63, “women in the NHL” fic about lady!Sid and lady!Ovi being fuckbuddies for years, and then one night Sid realizes, “oh, shit, I have feelings, and maybe she has feelings, too?” and then the next morning, before she can figure out what to do about that, she finds out that some absolute asshole creep planted cameras in her hotel room and has posted video on the internet of her and Alex having sex, and everything is thoroughly and horribly fucked up beyond recognition. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it because no way it closes out in less than 80K and I just don’t know if I have the heart for that fight after the aforementioned Jaromir epic, but I have held it back from WIP Amnesty because I just can’t bear to give up on it, it’s so close to my heart. Anyway, here is a snippet from it from happier times! This is the first scene.

This whole thing had started back in their first year in the league, when Alex had dragged Sydney out drinking with what looked like every Russian in New York City after one of their million joint press-and-photo-shoot events. Everyone wanted a piece of the first two women to play in the NHL, and if they could take a piece of both of them at the same time, so much the better.

This was before she’d learned her lesson about trying to match a Russian drink-for-drink, and Sydney had gotten pretty spectacularly drunk – drunk enough that Alex had to drag her inebriated ass back to their hotel. Alex had propped Sydney up against the door of her hotel room and started fishing around in Sydney’s pockets for the keycard. Alex had big, huge hands, and Sydney knew what those hands could do, and they felt good pressed up against her. And so it seemed like a really good idea to say, “I want you to touch me. Everywhere. Ev–ry–where,” she added, stretching the word out for emphasis. Alex didn’t say anything back, so once they were inside, Sydney nudged her up against the door and kissed her.

When she pulled back, Alex said, “You drunk, you know that?”

“Yes.” Sydney nodded, which turned out to have been a bad decision, nausea-wise, but she was undeterred. “I really do want you to touch me,” she told Alex, with the special earnestness that only the truly wasted can summon. “I don’t want that a lot. But I want it from you.”

“Sydney Crosby total lightweight,” Alex said. Her tone was jokey, but her hands—god, those hands—were gentle as she put Sydney to bed, fully clothed, after making her drink two big glasses of water and take two preemptive Tylenol.

In the morning, Sydney woke up with a headache that actually wasn’t too bad, and opened her eyes to the sight of Alex Ovechkina sacked out on the other side of the bed. Sydney poked her until she woke up, then waited for her to adjust to the waking world for a few minutes. When she was confident that Alex was mentally present, Sydney said, “Thanks for not taking advantage of me when I was wasted.”

“You welcome.” Alex squinted at Sydney for a minute, then grinned. “Now you sober, you want to fuck?”

Sydney blinked. That was… unexpected. But Alex’s hands were still Alex’s enormous, goal-scoring hands, and here was someone who couldn’t out her without risking her own career. “Yeah,” she said, a little surprised at herself, but sure of her answer. “Yeah, I do.”

#fic asks #My fic

15 notes · View notes

wavesmp3 · 3 years

Text

directors cut: oasis

[doing this entirely for myself, out of pure self indulgence lol] [this will be very messy/poorly organized and there will be spoilers]

okay so where to even begin omg..... we will start with the origins of oasis:

its actually, techinically a spin off of the world from this drabble with dino from svt. which the world in this drabble is what the world from oasis would look like very far in the future. but i changed a lot between writing that drabble and creating oasis. but there should be a scene in the drabble that is very similar to a part in oasis (hint: the first vision they got from saskila was not just a random vision with no meaning.......hehe)

but that drabble (its titled dreamscapes) was inspired by a mix of this post on tumblr about how nuclear waste warning signs sounded very cool and the book that i was reading called the children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi

and then after i had made that drabble i saw dee’s (@/atbzkingdom’s) post about the time capsule collab, and i had a couple ideas of what i could do for it but i ultimately decided on what would eventually become oasis !! so i guess we really have dee and that collab to thank for this piece lol

now for the timeline of me writing:

so i started outlining this piece in the first couple days of january, and normally outlines take me a while to come up with just because i struggle in coming up with plot, but i knew that my spring semester of classes would be starting soon and that I didn’t have a lot of time so i just sort of grinded an outline out as well several paragraphs of pure worldbuilding.

and then i started writing

and wow i was Really writing!! at my peak productivity i was easily getting down like 2k a day which for me is insane (for reference, i wrote 1k a day for tsiytt and i struggled my way through that)

but then life happens classes had begun and my writing for oasis slowly become nothing...

i really only found the time to work on the piece every other weekend, so i was really nervous that i wouldn’t finish in time (which technically i didn’t cause it was supposed to come out march 1st) but luckily i did

and at some point in february, i had lost so much of my momentum and motivation for this piece that i almost gave up on it. (at this point i was writing the scenes after they find the seat of wisdom destroyed) but again luckily i did not, but i personally can definitely see a decline in the quality of my writing towards the end (i mean maybe its in my head, but its sort of like i can see the loss of love for the wip in my writing at the end of it)

but don’t misunderstand, i still love oasis!! and in all honesty, i’m already considering starting a second draft to it, which is way sooner than i thought i would lol

also when i started writing this piece, i began writing it in the order that it would be read, but then halfway i switched to writing chronologically

anyways, something i learned while writing this piece, is that writing is a marathon. whereas, even with my longer pieces, i always viewed writing as a sprint. so as i start venturing into original works and more lengthy pieces of writing, i think this was a very valuable lesson for me to have learned.

okay now to the good stuff lol: [the first word of the bullet about the next chapter (?) is bolded for some crumbs of an organized commentary]

so this is jumping to the first past bit... but when i first wrote farah i had a very different plan for her character than who she ended up being. i had imagined that she’d be a lot more cold and a tough love sort of person. so that’s who i was writing when she’s first introduced in the flashback, but she very quickly become a much kinder full of love sort of person. but anyways i mention this because whenever i read that first part and the introduction of her character, i’m always a bit taken aback by how like mean here character is to crown then lol

also zoar !!!! its a terrible place, but i love that underground city

i also wrote the first flashback after i had written the scene where crown and chanhee are talking at his place in andhor, so the whole “fearless” connection was done very purposefully here since i knew how it’d be referenced in the next scene. someone mentioned this small connection in their reblog but i cant remember who

also rashi is my favorite character xD

i personally think how crown and chanhee became friends (the running thing) is so cute

this first bit of conversation between crown and chanhee when it switches back to the present and chanhee is giving them a tour of andhor is actually quite important to me, in the sense that its the first glimpse of how their actual relationship works and how they act together and just like their dynamic despite the fact that they havent seen each other in so long

and yeah i think kyu mentioned this and a few others, but i love how awkward it is when chanhee and crown are in his home in andhor, cause one: they havent seen each other in years! but also: anyone else find going to someone’s place for the first time oddly intimate, like wow you’re opening up your home to me and now suddenly idk how to sit or stand or what to do with my arms... maybe just me LMAO

DUDE i struggled so hard with making it so that chanhee knew how impossible this whole mission was going to be without actually revealing that he knows about the mirror. it was so hard for me, hopefully it came out alright though. if anyone is reading this, did the twist(s) come as a shock to you? did you see it coming? or did it feel like it came out of absolutely no where and not in a good way?

yes i did name the desert after the department store kohls .....

i was so excited to explain all the mage types, i had so much fun writing this whole chapter

fun fact: there was originally another sub group of psyche mages called dream mages who had like powers with dreams and stuff, but it ended up being irrelevant and really underdeveloped so it took it out

if anyone else was raised catholic or is catholic then i’d hope you recognize the names of all the relics.... i stole them from a prayer in the rosary whoops

it took me very long time to figure out exactly how the whole soul for the relic business would work, and idk if im a 100% satisfied with what it is/how it works/how it plays into rashi giving chanhee the locket

the note new gives crown.... the first slice of their friendship blooming, bro i eat that shit up

this part where crown and rashi are talking after the lesson is actually one of my favorites. (like i said i love rashi, but i just really love her interreacting with crown, i think they have such an interesting dynamic and one that i’ve seen irl a lot between students and teachers, where the student adores the teacher... i’ll get more into this later) but moving on, i like it for a number of reasons. one: it’s the first time we as readers get to see rashi talk outside of her role as lesson master. two: i love crown getting this validation from rashi. it’s not really expanded on a lot, but crown’s magic is definitely a bit of an insecurity for them, in the way that they don’t feel like it belongs to them. but here rashi comes, this person that crown looks up to so much, and telling crown that they’re a bit similar when it comes to having magic. and surprising crown by comforting them. and... idk i just really love this moment for crown.

okay this line: “You call your mom Rashi?” is a lowkey reference to game plan,, if anyone knows what i’m talking about then please come clown me for nearly having the entire movie memorized

oh, i also find the capital really cool. in my head the capital was always one huge building that contains an entire city but i realized while editing that i never really explained that, so idk if i successfully described the capital as cool as it is to me

also the five friends part.....CUTE

when chanhee says “i know. i remember.” !!! girl i felt that line with my entire chest. idk why

okay wait this part: “But that knowledge seems to fall flat right now. Because despite everything, curiosity won the war.” i love it so much, its that tiny of sliver of hope that gets me personally

i think this part where crown’s pride is so hurt by no one telling them about chanhee’s healing magic is quite important because its a glimpse of how stubborn and prideful and headstrong of a character they can be

also this : “ ‘and do you believe everything rashi says’ / without hesitation, you answer, ‘yes, of course’ “ this is another example of how highly crown thinks of rashi while growing up, almost to a fault. to the point where crown thought rashi could do no wrong. which i think is so interesting to think about when contrasted with the fight crown and chanhee have in the jungle where crown is the one discussing how rashi was wrong. i just like how much growth crown has had between all these years. and their opinion / perspective on rashi is one of the largest indicators of that growth.

I also just really like that paragraph where shadow vs healing is explained... I think chanhee’s magic is so sick

oh also the names thing.... I can’t remember where I got the idea to do that from but im so glad I did. its one of my favorite aspects to this world, and it looks like a lot of other people enjoyed it as well. but apart from the intimacy of it, i love how the use of names affects one’s magic. and that paragraph where they go through all that a mage could do with a name. it gives me chills. just cause.... the possibilities

so many people have mentioned this line.... but I must too, so this part: “magic always comes with a price. this is new’s” ..... crazy

saskila scares me omg

again the first vision they see is not a random scene.... the easter eggs I planted with that mwahaha

yeah that scene where they’re outside the tent discussing who should give their name to saskila..... I love that scene chanhee’s “I don’t have anyone but you” and crown deflecting all that tension with the pinky promise and the saskila calling them lovers.... mwah

this random scene about the hot summer and laying with Farah and new in the gardens is another one of my favorite, it’s just so sweet

but this next scene makes me so sad

like I know what happens and I know that everything turns out okay but I get so scared for crown

yeah just that entire part after Rashi gets to them and when they’re going to the infirmary and before crown passes out... I love that whole part. i think i did an effective job of writing the gravity of that whole moment. cause it makes me a little stunned every time I read it. and I was pretty nervous about not being able to do that scene and that moment justice so I’m glad it turned out like it did

and again this line: magic always comes with a price, and in your case, it comes with several.

okay this part after they jump out of the ship and crown is talking to Chanhee but that other dude is talking too... I hope it’s not too confusing. I really wanted to show through the writing that this was all happening at the same time, but idk it came out well. like in my mind I have such a clear picture of this scene, but I have no clue if I did effective job of showing you guys what I’m seeing through the writing

oh yeah, crowns thing about dual wielding and engulfing the blades in flames.... I find that so cool. they’re so sick for that

yeah also the part where crowns hurt and they give Chanhee their name and they use it.... great moment, but I feel like my writing is a bit lacking here. i just know it could be better.

I think at this point of writing my classes had started, and again the disparity in writing quality is so obvious to me

but the line where chanhee is describing how it all feels, and it says “chanhee feels golden” was inspired by daylight by taylor swift, theres a line in that song that goes “i used to think love would be burning red, but its golden” and like hello the parallels between that and crown’s fire magic.... something to think about

so this next part where it’s back to the past and crown is getting in trouble (as crown does) but the part where crown is like asking but not directly asking for rashi’s name.... that part is so crazy to me cause it’s feels so out of place. but it was purposeful. i was trying to show that crown’s growing and that they’re at this weird age where they feel invincible. and also i wanted to put more emphasis on how being royal and the heir to the throne kind of effects the relationships crown has

and the last line of this part when rashi says “never abuse it” it gives me chills whew

the next part ... another part that i had high hopes for in the outlining stages of writing, but when it came to actually writing, this scene totally flopped, i’m gonna try not to dwell on this part too much cause i just know most of my comments will be about how much i don’t like it. but just overall, this scene could have been SO MUCH BETTER !

omg this little interaction: ““Look!” Chanhee deadpans, shooting you a glare. “The match is about to begin.” / “Wish me luck.” / “I hope you lose.”” i think its so funny and cute

“ Your eyes immediately got to Rashi “ another example of how highly crown regards rashi

“In Wurltan.” hmmmmmm sus.... *laughs in i love mentioning things that won’t make sense to reader until later*

okay this: “Yes, but not just any mage. I…” your voice trails off, pulling at your fingers and looking anywhere but at him. “I wanted you to know.” i cannot stand these two omg

okay this part: “Chanhee thinks and overthinks the words spoken between you both. His mind drifts off to last night as well, that moment in the tent where you shared your warmth. He doesn’t even realize he’s staring at you until you give him a funny look. He quickly looks away and wonders if you’re overthinking everything as relentlessly as he is.” this part makes me think about what ina said about how chanhee shows his love by keeping you in his thoughts and YEAH chanhee’s love language in this piece is thinking about you and staring LOL

i hate this next part, not cause i don’t like it or anything it just makes me sad

but this line: “Like if someone shoved you from behind right now, you wouldn’t push back; you’d let yourself fall straight to the ground.” i actually love that line

also this next entire bit i see SO clearly in mind, i hope i wrote it well enough so that you all saw it clearly too

when chanhee wipes the dirt.... girl i’m wiping my tears

this line : “We’ll lean on each other.” mini love declaration sighhhhhh

yeah that whole part i love so much

the seat of wisdom :(((( no!!!!!

so about this line: “He stares at his palms, at all the lies buried under each nail and at all the secrets shoved in every crack. He watches as they all blow up in front of his face.” >> i had like ten different versions of it before i settled on this one lol

okay so the first part of the last past flashback with crown realizing their true feelings... so soft

news gone, rashis’s dead, :((( it makes me so sad

gosh okay this paragraph..... “I’ve always wondered why the gods blessed me and you the way that they have. They entrusted you with such great power. The only person to be both a healing and shadow mage in centuries. And then,” a tear falls from her eye, “they entrusted you to me.” Chanhee thinks this might be the first time he’s seen Rashi cry. “But now I have reason to believe that this was no accident. I’m beginning to think that the gods have always known it would come to this. And I’m starting,” she falters there, “I’m starting to spite them for it.” it hurts so bad im sorry

the first confrontation with harlan took me so long to write, and i’m still not sure if i actually like it, so again i will refrain from commenting lol

but the part where crown screams : “YOU LOST THE MIRROR OF JUSTICE!” I think i told kyu this but this line makes me laugh because in my head its said the same way bella says: “you nicknamed my daughter after the lochness monster” whenever i see that line i smile lol

honestly this argument scene..... one of my absolute faves,,, everything lina said about it in that reblog just yes!yes!yes!! i can’t even comment about a particular part because all of it i love so much. its another part that leaves me slightly speechless.

but my favorite part of it might be how it ends hehe

these next couple parts were a bit diffucult to write because obviously the air between crown and chanhee is not very light right now so it was just hard to navigate their dynamic at these moments until they apologize but hopefully it turned out alright

i really like this line: “But this moment—with the scent of Harlan’s wine under his nose and the chill of Harlan’s blade against his neck—this moment feels nothing like those. It feels empty.”

“ Chanhee just stares at you.“ -- staring as a love language exhibit b

this whole part... chills bro

“Chanhee exhales because for the first time since this afternoon he looks at your face and sees you.” -- exhibit c ....

okay wait another one of my favorite parts here: the spilled glass metaphor!! again please reference lina’s rb on this because everything said there... could not have said better myself. inspired by this writing advice by ocean vuong and yeah i just think the metaphor speaks for itself, one of my favorite lines (well paragraph) from the entire piece, actually from ALL of my works

it was so hard to think up all of yumi’s different names, i was struggling

them talking about how farah will be happy to see chanhee...... how do i break it to you crown.....she’s dead...... awkward

red streak q! yesss. also i’m so sorry for killing off farah

also kyunyu bestiessss

tbh this whole paragraph: “I get this overwhelming burst of honesty. As if what you both speak of is more than just a simple truth, as if it’s a commandant you blindly follow. What’s even odder is that I only feel that burst when you speak of each other.” Q stops walking and turns so that he faces Chanhee directly. “You speak of Crown constantly. And last night, when I met Crown, your title never left from the tip of their tongue. Humans are so simple really. We mention what we love.” Q pauses for a moment, bringing a hand under his chin. “Do you love Crown?” --i wrote it for myself no regrets

oh wait this bit too : “Quietly, Chanhee says, “I know.” / “Have you been watching?” / “I’ve been waiting.” / “For what?” / He meets your eyes. “For you.”” -- sometimes i do things that live rent free in my own mind

okay im so sorry for just quoting myself but this too : “ He sits back slightly. Shocked. Not by his love for you, but rather by how easily love walked into his heart and settled between his lungs “

lol the part where they try fooling q... why are crown and chanhee like this

the running !!!

yeah also every part after that... tears okay

yumi’s magic !!! its so cool to me, i love it so much

i surprisingly don’t have much to say about the end... i mean i like it, but i just don’t have any comments. the last line tho... good one shawna

okay im done for you sake i hope no one read this lmao

#oasis #mine #not sure what else to tag this lol #oh #directors commentary #this got so long for no reason

12 notes · View notes

thelightofthingshopedfor · 4 years

Text

WIP Wednesday, kind of!

for @grandthorkiday this year, I really wanted to finally finish the fic I started for it last year, but that didn’t happen because literally everything is happening at the same time this October and also it’s hard to focus on writing in general right now. but then I thought of this older Sakaar fic that has been vaguely on my “I’m almost positive this is practically done if I would just put some time and effort into finishing it (but it’s also totally possible it’s nowhere near as close to being done as I think it is)” list for ages, and I realized it totally fit the definition for Grandthorki, and I thought maybe I could finish that real quick instead!

...I couldn’t. there’s a lot more to this one that needs to be written than I kind of thought, in part because it’s so old I wrote it before Ragnarok ever came out, so it was based purely on the trailer (and then inspired by some speculation by @theotherodinson, I think), and to finish this fic I would first have to decide if it would be more straightforward to just keep going with my pre-Ragnarok speculation or change the setup a bit to fit the film. also I would have to turn a bunch of bullet points into an actual conversation that would have to...make sense? and, like, establish things? and that’s hard even when my brain isn’t busy constantly screaming.

but! I can post most of what I already wrote, just for fun and because at least this is something Grandthorki-related that I haven’t already posted elsewhere! knowing me this could backfire because then I won’t have as much motivation to try to finish it but on the other hand it’s been sitting at this exact level of unfinishedness for like three years so it’s probably not going to hurt.

warnings: I kind of don’t know what to say here because nothing actually happens but there’s a lot of discussion of rape and graphic violence, so...warnings for that!

[the basic premise/assumption here was that Thor ended up on Sakaar at some point in his search for the Infinity Stones, was forced into the Contest, and gradually gained more of the Grandmaster’s favor and attention because he’s Thor and he’s great at fighting. it’s probably been months at this point, he’s one of the Grandmaster’s champions, and that earns him a reward that he extremely does not want: a few hours with a sex slave, basically.]

The Grandmaster calls them his pets, sentient beings he keeps because they are pretty rather than for their fighting prowess, but the term seems only partially accurate given that it implies both ownership and some level of exclusivity. The latter, at least, seems to apply on a purely arbitrary basis according to the Grandmaster’s whims. There are other appropriate terms, certainly, and Thor has heard plenty from the guards and his fellow warriors. “Pleasure slave” seems to be the most accurate while still remaining within the bounds of marginal politeness.

“Grandmaster must like you special,” the guard says in a confiding tone as they walk. “This one used to be one of his favorite pets, all personal like—didn’t share him much, real picky about what anybody could do with him. Guess the mouthiness lost its shine. Oh yeah, that reminds me—” He digs into his bag and emerges with a handful of metal. “Boy’s really got a mouth on him, so use this when you get tired of it. Or if you wanna make sure he won’t bite; he still hasn’t learned his lesson on that either. Up to you though; walls are soundproof, so whatever you get up to won’t bother nobody else.”

It’s a gag, Thor realizes, reminded with a jolt of the muzzle he fastened on Loki before bringing him back to Asgard, and he cannot afford to think about Loki now. “Thank you,” he says as politely as he can, “but I have no need of…that.”

“You do, trust me,” the guard says. “Only way the boys have found to shut him up and stop him biting. Never met somebody who runs his mouth like that. Dunno why the Grandmaster liked him so long. Oh, and it opens, see—” He twists something at the side of the gag and part of the mouthpiece folds inward. Another twist and the opening widens, and it takes very little creativity to imagine how the mechanism would force the wearer’s jaw wide. “Careful with that, by the way,” the guard adds. “Two turns gets him open, three or four is good, keep going and you can dislocate his jaw—which is fine, fixed that before, it’s just the kind of thing you probably want to know you’re doing, right?”

Thor’s stomach turns over. When he is free of this place, he will come back to help the other slaves. He forces a smile. “I assure you, I do not need such an instrument.”

“You’ll thank me when you change your mind later,” the guard says, shoving the gag into Thor’s hand. Thor gives up and takes it, because if he has learned nothing else in the last few years he has at least learned the importance of picking his battles. “He hasn’t been fed today, either, so no worries he’ll puke on you. Might get him to cooperate if you promise him food after, but that never really works with this one, so, probably a waste of time. All up to you though. Anyway—” He puts a hand over the locking panel and the room’s outer door slides open. “I’ll lock you in, come get you in a few hours. Comms are open in case you need something. And ‘cause we get bored.”

“And if I prefer not to have an audience,” Thor says.

The guard snorts. “You been here this long and you don’t get how things work? In you go.”

Thor sighs and does as he’s bid. The outer door hisses shut behind him and the inner door slides open, revealing a modestly appointed bedchamber. The bed is the largest thing in it, a sturdy-looking wooden construction with prominent bedposts, but Thor’s attention is drawn immediately to the figure kneeling on the floor. He is facing away, though not by choice; his wrists are shackled behind his back and bound to a metal loop in the floor with a short length of chain. Thor has no doubt the positioning is deliberate, just another way of reminding the slave of his powerlessness. His shoulders are rigid, his fingers curled into fists—blue fingers, Thor notes, with black nails, and blue skin at the back of his neck under black hair. Probably Kree, then, which makes it a little odd that he is not being used in the arena, instead of…this.

Thor grimaces and moves to put himself in the slave’s line of sight.

[aaaaand naturally the slave is Loki, miraculously alive after dying in Thor’s arms on Svartalfheim! also he doesn’t recognize Thor at all and in fact remembers nothing prior to waking up half-dead on Svartalfheim and being scooped up by the Grandmaster somehow! this is all very upsetting for Thor! it gets more upsetting when, in the conversation I haven’t written, Loki starts working really hard to goad Thor into a temper and Thor realizes what he’s trying to do!]

“You want the gag,” Thor says finally.

Loki jerks back, his mouth snapping shut. He recovers quickly, his eyes crackling with anger, but he’s not quite fast enough to keep Thor from glimpsing a flash of fear underneath. “What I want is irrelevant. This is about what you want, that is the entire point, and I know your type, dozens of times over. You’re a warrior. You want to win. You want to hear me beg you to stop, to show mercy you delight in withholding. And I am telling you now, you can do anything you like but you will not hear me beg, not for anything. So use the damn gag.”

And with a flash of nauseating clarity Thor gets it, why Loki’s working so hard to goad others into forcibly shutting him up, because it’s the one tiny piece of control he has left. Unbidden, the image forces itself into his mind: Loki, eyes squeezed shut in pain, screaming into the gag and clinging to the very last scraps of his pride with the knowledge that if he breaks and begs for it to stop, no one will know—clinging to those scraps even though his defiance hurts him, because he has been left with nothing else that is still his.

[Thor gets real upset! upset enough to unlock his lightning powers without access to Mjolnir? yep!]

Loki’s red eyes widen, his bravado visibly wavering, and his voice shakes just a little as he says, “Well done, that’s actually a new one.”

“I’m sorry,” Thor says, “this will hurt, but I will be quick,” and he reaches out one crackling hand for the collar.

[Loki’s eyes widen etc. here instead probably] and he cringes away, raw panic breaking through his bravado, but if the guards are not already on their way they will be soon, and there is no time to spend on reassurances Loki will have no reason to believe anyway. Thor steels himself and lunges, seizing the chain at Loki’s wrists with one hand and his collar with the other, and Loki’s body snaps taut as lightning floods into him.

Once, over a century ago, a journey with Sif and the Warriors Three went disastrously wrong, resulting in Thor and Loki stranded alone on Muspelheim, relentlessly pursued by a dozen Fire Giants and unable to get far enough away to safely call on Heimdall. By the time the giants truly cornered them, they’d been running for three days straight without water or sleep, Loki’s magic was nearly depleted from several aborted attempts to hide them and open a pathway between realms, and Thor couldn’t draw down a storm from the painfully dry desert air. With no options remaining to them, Loki convinced Thor to channel the last dregs of Mjolnir’s lightning through Loki himself, in the theory that doing so might amplify what little remained of Loki’s magic and grant him the power needed to escape. It was a mad, desperate gamble that could have easily killed him and nearly did, but it worked, leaving Thor with—among other things—an unsettlingly precise knowledge of how much lightning Loki’s body could take without dying.

He has not thought of that incident in years, but he is glad of it now, especially without Mjolnir to help him control his power.

When everything clears, Loki is sprawled on his back, staring up at Thor and breathing hard, freed of all his bonds. His expression shifts through pain and fear and shock into confusion and then, finally, a faint glimmer of recognition, and he says hoarsely, “…Thor?”

Thor exhales, relief and battle-lust tangling inside him, and holds out his hand to help Loki up. “Come, brother. It’s time to get out of this place.”

Loki stares at him for a moment longer, his throat working, and then he reaches back and takes Thor’s hand.

#loki #thor #sakaar #fanfic #marvel cinematic universe #rape tw #grandthorki #occasionally I write things #sometimes I even finish them but not often #cw noncon implied #fic #text

12 notes · View notes

cristalknife · 3 years

Text

On Comments, feedback anxiety on both the writer and the reader’s side

If one could look into my WIP draw, or take a glance at the fics I’ve actually posted, it becomes clear misunderstandings based on miscommunication is something I seem have a thing for. In all honesty is more of a lifelong study and recurring theme I keep stumbling on or consciously walking into. Preface: I am only human and mistakes can happen, but usually I try to handle the detailed label (also referred as Read the Tin or as written on the tin) of major warning with my writings that is usually missing in any other aspect of life, sort of a lovely user manual/preview so one could know to walk away before getting invested or worse triggered.

Or at least know exactly what they signed up for.

Is it perfect? No but at least it’s there, as a writer I did all I could to avoid unpleasantness, the rest it’s up to the reader’s discretion. Which leads me to the heart of this post: comments, feedbacks, criticism, politically correctness, manners and the anxiety they produce in both the writer and the reader.

The picture is big so I’ll divide in sides, but remember that people are made of multiple sides, and sometimes those sides are at odds or outwardly warring against each other. That’s pretty average for any irrational human being with emotions.

From the POV of an overthinking anxious writer:

1) Ao3′s Kudos are sort of like a watered down thumbs up, after about 4-5 fic posted (or ~15K words of stories out there to be consumed), they became the kind of anxiety triggers feeding thoughts of why so many people/guests left a kudo but the story wasn’t good enough to warrant the time of a comment/review 2) Comments are lovely reminder someone found something in your words that made them react so strongly they felt like sharing that reaction with you was worth their time.

2.1) Comments are also the cause of anxiety about their content before you have the courage to read what they says...

3) Criticisms and feedbacks can be a wonderful tool to improve your writing for the next story. But not if they are laced with insult, personal attacks in that case they are the kind of black hole that pushes people to stop writing all together, or at least stop sharing what they write.

4) single emoji (♥), 2 char long (<3) comments takes years of effort and a lot of conditioning to remember to slip in reader mode and appreciate the effort it took to stop and do even that, instead of allowing doubts to gnaw at the back of your head with waaaiiiiit that’s all? was it good? was it bad? arrrghhh what does it even mean???

5) Statistics and numbers, those are the evilest of the most buggering things and the most vile tempters that will push you to compare your stories against others (a futile exercise in frustration and pointless reason to shred one’s own self confidence to the tiniest of pieces for literally nothing)

5.1) Especially when you have two writing mind frames:

writing the stories you want to read (and usually it is either a niche where you’ve already consumed all you could find so you write it because duh, more content might ignite back the fire please, or you haven’t found yet someone to say it how you want to read it) vs what I simply call

exorcism writing (the kind of free therapy exercise when something is bugging the heck out you and not leaving your mind so you put it down to words and then let them fly free, instead of trapping them on a diary you’d just return to read and start the vicious cycle all over again)

5.1.1) and your exorcism stories become more popular than the stories you want to read, because at the end of your raw ranting exorcism you managed to write something that would end up falling within mainstream tropes. Which just makes you sad because those were not the result of love and planning and endless hours of writing and editing that you put in your other stories.

6) I’m not writing fan fiction to be an educator, it is possible that my day job is being an educator, but unless I’m there writing textbooks, as a writer it is not my responsibility to teach the reader something that has to be authentic, realistic and a good practice. I’m just here to tell a story. Or are you really telling me that you watch superheros movies and series and expect them to appear outside your window? If you just laughed then why are you looking at fanfic smut with the expectation of finding a more interesting and alternative way to have a sex ed lesson? If you subscribe to the school that a story has has to make sense... Let me ask have you ever read some of the greatest literature works like Frankenstain, Moby Dick, The Hobbit, Journey to the center of the Earth, Alice through the looking glass, Aeneas, if you did and subscribe to “fiction as to make sense” then please please enlighten me I’m rady to sit back and hear all the points you can make how any of those are realistic representations of how things go. If you says that those are just stories told oh so long ago... Lets pick more recent ones, the Harry Potters books, Goosebumps, Twilight, The Shadowhunters Chronicles, 50 shades of , all those are listed as fiction which yes sadly too many used as a portrait of theme touched in there as realistic because the story was not set in a fantastical world and made the mistake of treating a work of fiction as a documentary... Sorry people I’m a writer, choosing the right words matters, words meanings and definitions matter please learn to think critically, and learn your words, there is a difference between fiction and documentary 6.1) At the same time it might be that I am the kind of writer who loves to add factually authentic things in my writings, someone who actually had spent hours and hours on research to make sure that what they have been writing is not utter and complete made up rubbish, and that’s ok too. I do not expect readers to assume it is correct or that it is purely made up, and if someone is curious they could use the comment to ask a question, I’ve never turned out a curious question, even when it was difficult to answer it

7) Just because I am writing about something, it doesn’t mean I support it... Again those are stories, not a scientific report on a lab experiment, I can write about abusive relationships, doesn’t mean I support them, I could write about self harm or depression, doesn’t mean I am encouraging those behaviors, in fact those usually come with a Trigger Warning, why? because a reader should have the option to walk away from what should be just a moment of pleasure and relax, not finding themselves triggered because I didn’t want to spoil the surprise of what was going to come in a story posted on the internet... 8) This far I’ve personally chosen to not push for comment, no beg necessary, I decided years ago to be the kind of self centered bad ass who writes for themselves, who’s not going to dangle the promises of more chapters in exchange for comments, I dislike the practice, and I find too exhausting shouting left and right hey hey I’ve written this read it read it... So I do get why my stories do not have such a large audience, it doesn’t help I’ve actually posted way less than what I’ve written over the years. I do welcome comments, though I have no clue on how to respond to short ones, or a single emoji/<3 to all chapters to those I end up answering only to the most recent one of that person and thank for their support. Longer comments are easier to answer because it gives me something to say back or comment/thanks for, though it becomes weird for me when someone speculate on future developments in what they wish to see, and since I’ve recently adopted the policy of posting only completed stories (even for the chaptered ones that will not be posted at the same time, the number of total chapter is not an estimation it is exactly the number of files I’ve divided the story into for reasons) because I do know whether something of that sort will happen or not, and I don’t want to put someone out of my story if they are too invested in see what they imagined happen... Though as I do write stories I’d like to read I’m quick to encourage aspiring writers to feel free to take that what if and work with it, just to please mention that my story inspired theirs and that I’d love to see what they come up with. Constructive criticisms, I do not have a beta for most of my works, I do not work too well depending on other people’s time, I confess even in the past I received criticisms that were not constructive if we push the boundaries and call those criticisms rather than just plain old complains, which is sort of the reason why I stopped explicitly encouraging communication. Because I do expect respect, you don’t know anything about me or what I believe in, you might make some guesses from my profile because I haven’t been shy and pretty open on them, but I won’t accept being personally attacked or talked to in a disrespectful manner just because you didn’t like what I wrote. I have no problem accepting criticisms, as long as they are criticisms and not just whining. You cannot come to me with “I hate your story” and leave it at that, you already took the time to express your opinion instead of simply walking away, the least you can do is explaining why... Otherwise I seriously don’t get why you wasted both of yours and more importantly my time and energies... From the POV of a spoonie reader who barely has the energy to read: 1) Ao3′s Kudos are a life saver that allows you to show your appreciation (even if you are allowed only one as registered user) with only a click (and some times even that click takes so much out of you) instead of relegating you to invisible reader, barely visible number (*coughs*ff.net*coughs*) or forcing you to make a story a favorite/followed

2) Comments are the source of anxiety, because you might want to show support but would they get that or would it sound strange? will the author understand that a a ghsafdgsakdjfh (read: key smash) happened with excitement and love and you’ve no other words to express it? 2.1) also trying to put your support in words when you are in your pj cozily being a blanket burrito and reading from your phone in bed because there’re no more spoon left for the day it’s hard

3) The author asked for R&R, or welcomes comments and constructive criticism. You loved the story enough to spend energies to

point out things that were plain plot hole or downright inconsistency or lose ends, pointing out botched translations from your own mother tongue and offering correction that were not google translated, in ao3 case pointing out lack of some appropriate tags, which would have 1 improved your story’s visibility and 2 allowed the reader to choose whether they wanted to read it or not both points that would have benefit you as author...

Only for the author to react:

- badly with a why are you such a nitpick hadn’t anyone told you that you should just stay silent if you have nothing nice to tell me? - Excuse me you’re the one asking for my opinion not my adoration, I gave you exactly what you asked for, if you cannot handle your work being nitpicked or the holes in your plot being publicly poked then there’re fabulous people called Beta reader who will give you the needed dose of though love in private get one..

- badly with a don’t like don’t read - legit reader’s counter point is I wouldn’t have read it if you had given me a way to know then what I discovered now [personal addendum, on a not that well low energy day it takes me less about 3 mins and half to read 1.5K words don’t came at me on your 1k long story and tell me I could have stopped reading when I noticed it wasn’t that good for me...I was done with it before I could get any warning]

- dismissively because a meet cute clearly is an AU - Bless your heart if you need me to point out to you that there is a difference between an Alternative Universe (AU) and a Canon Divergence and the fact that meet cute is a trope which in fandoms usually implies different circumstances within the fandom’s canon world of the first meeting between the characters in the main relationship but doesn’t automatically include different premises for the character example:

in canon: characters from a magical supernatural fandom one a wizard with magic, one a fighter with superhuman speed and holy weapons, in their first meeting the fighter saved the wizard’s life.

in a meet cute: a wizard and a fighter with superhuman speed and holy weapons meet in the middle of the forest where the fighter was hunting for food failing miserably and the wizard took pity on the fighter and offered to share their dinner, if the fighter dared to step inside the wizard’s home

in a No Power/Human AU meet cute: where there is no magic, one of the two is a barista who uses flirty coffee jokes lines to call the other’s person order, and finally discover they are an accountant so instead they start using math puns to get the accountant’s attention.

Those are all valid stories but as an author don’t came at me believing that just because you mention a trope that is enough to distinguish between the 2° and 3° examples, or that having mentioned the trope gives you the standing to look down at me if I do have my own reasons that you do not know about for wanting to read only stories like the second pitch and get upset but still tell you in a polite way that there are missing tags in your story, especially when you’ve falsely advertise your 3° like pitch as if it was a 2° one and I get upset and let you know about it and do so with the curtesy of signing it with my name rather than leave an guest/anonymous comment

- shrugging off issues with the tags with a Oh but I’m bad at tagging -

then I have 3 things to say to you buddy one) that’s not an excuse if you haven’t learnt how to do it yourself get a beta, get a friend, read more and compare what your story tells with a similar one and how that one is tagged, there’re ways Ignorance is not an excuse;

two) you can’t claim you’re bad at tagging but then refuse to listen when someone is pointing out to you more tags for your story, dud learn how search engines work, searching by tag is basically having a filtered search, the more tags your fit your story the more venues your story can appear in reader’s search for something to read... which means visibility for your work, are you really telling me that you dislike to have that and would prefer less people reading what you post? then sorry but I think you’re doing it wrong and should get a diary instead, not post them on the internet.

addendum: still claiming to be bad at it after having posted over 40 stories and all posted in recent times in the span of a couple of months, just suggest you lack the intelligence to learn how to do things. Which only encourages me to never ever get close to your works, certainly to never promote or share them if not actively discouraging my friends from spending their time on them.

three) and guess what? there is a frikking I'm Bad At Taggingtag for that too!!!

As a reader I might be ranting in this post, but the long effect of those is a growing apathy and increased unwillingness to spend my energies for commenting unless I’d really really really really liked or loved a story, or I have something more than a one liner to share, which while I intellectually know it might be unfair to let the whole pay for the disrespect of few, my own survival instinct is glad I’m not spreading myself even thinner...

truthful disclaimer: in all fairness it has been my experience, that those reactions usually come from authors with already quite few stories or a decent word count out there.

New authors are still very much enthusiastic and happy about even the smallest crumbs of recognition or encouragement, which in return is lovely because it recognise that my own time and energy as reader are worthy, that it does take effort to share an opinion or encouragement or suggestion.

4) The author might never know how that day I posted that single emoji, or two character <3, it was one of those bad days when even opening a small water bottle to swallow down the painkillers was too much, when using a finger to scroll down the page to reach the end of the story had wiped out more energies than I could really afford and yet I still pushed myself to leave a sign that I was there and appreciated their story

5) readers should be allowed to have the “if you thought writing was hard, try commenting other people words” tag... because sometimes especially on older platforms (yes ff.net I’m looking at you) as a reader I can’t find the energies to wipe up something to say so I become a silent invisible reader. And sometimes it’s really that I am able to stand only stories with certain characteristics, personally for example I do not have the emotional fortitude to read more a certain amount of Work In Progress at the same time across multiple fandoms because my brain can’t recall all the details and I might not feel to rereading the story from the beginning every single time there is a new chapter... 6) Maybe it’s because I’m way out of my teens, maybe it’s because even in my teens and before stories were my safe place, my escape, I do not expect things to be factually correct in stories, but I am a logic driven person, I will see those plot holes and I might even poke through 'em if I find your story good enough that I feel it would be a pity not pointing those things out. You cannot tell a classic vampire story (not the twilight kind of sun sparkling vampires but the sun burn me to ashes kind) and have your group of vampires prancing about at noon of a clear summer day without some sort of reason for that to work. I promise you, I’m not picky, I will accept ridiculous reasons like they were standing under and umbrella covered from head to toes and none of their skin was exposed to the sunlight, but do put the effort to give me a reason why I should believe it was intentional, or do not cry and complain if I do decide to point out dude you’ve normal vampires that are sunbathing and did not become piles of ashes that’s not plausible... 7) Stories are just that, something to listen to, they don’t have to have a moral for them to be worthy of being shared, they don’t have to be a mirror of your thoughts, or they could be a mirror of your beliefs, and if I am commenting on them I’m commenting on the story itself not your connection to it. And I do need you to advertise in advance if there’re things that might be triggerish, because what might be just a mental exercise of stepping outside your shoes, if not done might result in me walking into a panic attack while maybe I was just recuperating for one and trying to find comfort or a distraction. While I as a reader cannot know you author and where you come from, unless you want to make an ass of u and me do not assume you know where I am or what path I’m walking in my life as a reader. 8) I despise people telling me what to do, especially if I didn’t ask for an opinion... If someone (who doesn’t have an economical or authorative position over me) demands me to do something the chances I’ll be do it, especially if I was going to do it before, become nil instantaneously. I’ve been running and lurking in writing circles and fanfictions for closer to three decades at the time this is being written, and from the very beginning I found disgusting and deplorable the practice some authors adopted of bargaining reaching certain numbers of comments/kudos in exchange for the next chapter. I can respect an author saying I don’t want to get this or that, but the final result is that most likely I would walk away without commenting even if it would have been a story I would have otherwise supported. There’re few authors I do know personally, at least superficially through other channels, that have this kind of disclaimers and I still comment. But that’s because I have an appreciation and will to support the person themselves who also happened to be authors.

#long post #LLF inspired #LLF Comment Project related #comments and feedbacks #personal rant #listing differences #between what I write and what I believe #between what is fic and what is reality #between writer and reader mentality #between writing the stories you want to read and exorcism writing #talked about with a pinch of humour #ok maybe dark humour #have I spent hours and probably more spoon on this than it was healthy?#probably so #but it was worth it #or so i hope

2 notes · View notes

kwanisms · 5 years

Text

English is My Favorite Subject - 1

⤑ genre: smut, college au, enemies to lovers ⤑ pairing: Chan x Reader (female) ⤑ warning: *ahem* smut, S I N, soft dom!Chan, rough sex, phone sex, sexting, slight degradation, mention of alcohol, foul language ⤑ summary: After taking the English tutoring position at your university, hell comes to you in the form of Lee Chan. He needs help passing his exams and tutoring is his only option. As your time with him passes, you come to realize that maybe he’s not the cocky and arrogant asshole you previously assumed. ⤑ word count: 19.2k (lmao I’M SORRY. This got out of hand)

⤑ {01} | 02 | 03

a/n: I’ve been sitting on this WIP for literally M O N T H S. So I’m finally posting it because Chan is hot asf (despite being 6 years his senior). And most importantly he’s legal What was supposed to be one part has morphed into something else entirely and it’s now going to be three parts (kill me lmao) so here, enjoy! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. IF YOU CAN, READ THIS ON DESKTOP. The tumblr app has been screwing up and getting rid of my read more lines. ~K♡

You would have never taken this position if you knew beforehand that he needed a tutor. You would have been content not taking the job but unfortunately, you needed the money and it looked great on your resume. The moment he walked into the room provided by the university, your worst nightmare began; being stuck in a room with Lee Chan for two hours, twice a day every week.

You cursed whatever deity deemed it necessary to send this demon your way.

It wasn’t that you didn’t like Lee Chan; you hated him. Your disdained was mirrored when Chan entered the room and saw you sitting there and immediately swore under his breath. Or maybe it was because he hadn’t seen or spoken to you since the party where you threw a drink in his face and called him a tasteless asshat.

He leaned up against the wall, his backpack slung over one shoulder and narrowed his eyes at you. “Tell me this isn’t real,” he said, his voice deeper than you remembered. He’d grown over the few years since you’d last spoken. He wasn’t the baby faced freshman you remembered. You shook your head.

“Unfortunately, it is. I’m your tutor, and seeing as you already paid for your lessons, we might as well get this over with. The sooner we finish, the sooner we don’t have to see each other,” you said as you straightened up your side of the table.

Chan sat across from you, dropping his bag on the floor with a desolate thud. “Alright, teach, what are we learning?” he asked dropping his previous demeanor for a pleasant one. The cheerful tone took you by surprise and you decided to shake it from your head. “Well, looking at your grades, we clearly-” you began before Chan interjected.

“Wait, you have my grades?!” he snapped and you stared at him. “Uh, yes? I’m your tutor. Your professor sent your grades over so I knew what exactly you needed help with?” you said in a harsh tone, making it painfully obvious. Chan clicked his tongue and looked away at the wall littered with flyers. “Fine,” he said, his jaw clenched before he turned back to you.

He was pissed. You could see it in his eyes and if you weren’t the same person you were now, you might have coward in fear, but luckily, you weren’t shy and intimidated easily. You stared back with as much ferocity as you could muster, staring him down as if you were an alpha wolf beating a lower one into submission with your gaze. Chan eventually gave in and looked down.

Pleased with your show of dominance you continued. “As per your grades, it seems as if you need the most help with grammar. Your professor noted that your comprehension of the language and vocabulary is excellent which is great. Less for us to work on. You just need to focus on the grammar section,” you said as you flipped through the file you had made.

“You sound awfully glad about that,” Chan said with a sneer and you sighed, rolling your eyes. “It means we have to spend less time together. If you needed help with everything, we would be meeting everyday from now until your exams. Instead, twice a week, two hours a day until the week before your exam is sufficient enough. The week of, however, we will have to up it to an hour everyday until the day before. This is the only reasonable schedule I see,” you said.

Chan huffed, crossing his arms. “So do I get to pick the days?” he asked and you nodded. “Yes. I know you have extracurricular activities, as do I, so we will have to work together to make the schedule work. I don’t like this any more than you do, but this is where we are and we better make the best of this until we can go back to our lives without seeing each other,” you said watching him as he clenched his jaw. After a few moments, he nodded silently.

“Alright, just because I have to pass this class. I need to, for baseball,” he said and you nodded. “Of course,” you said shifting in your seat and opening his folder to a page labeled “schedule” in all capital letters. “Let’s get this schedule figured out and then we can go. I won’t make you start today,” you said with a grimace. Chan nodded and leaned forward to look at the paper.

The two of you had agreed to meet on Wednesdays before dinner and Sundays around 9:30 in the morning. You jotted the schedule down as well as Chan’s number since you would need it in case something came up and you needed to contact him. After finalizing the schedule, Chan sat back in his chair. “Can I go now?” he asked and you nodded without looking up.

You heard the chair feet scrape against the tiled floor as he stood up and bent over to grab his bag. “So,” he said and you looked up. “See you Wednesday?” he asked and you nodded. “Yup, Wednesday,” you said and he turned without a word and opened the door, hesitating in the doorway. He turned to look at you and you waited for him to speak. Instead he shook his head and called out a, “later,” before leaving you in the small room alone.

You could tell this was going to be a rough six weeks.

The following Sunday, you woke up early, rolling out of bed to head for your bathroom and shower. After cleaning and drying off, you got ready for the day, dressing in some comfortable clothes as you would be spending two hours sitting at a table, helping the person you couldn’t stand the most learn the language he hated the most. After leaving the warmth and safety of your dorm, you braved the cool, dreary morning to head for the student center.

It had rained the night before, leaving behind little puddles on the streets and sidewalks. As you neared your destination, the promise of coffee and a muffin in your mind, you pulled open the door and stepped in. Your phone buzzed in your sweatpants pocket, alerting you to a new text. Pulling it out, you opened the texting app. It was from Chan.

[2019/09/29] L.Chan [09:20]: Hey, I’m gonna be like 10 minutes late.

Letting out a sigh, you typed in a quick response before getting in the nearly nonexistent line for your morning refreshments.

You [09:21]: K

With that taken care of, you turned your attention toward the barista behind the counter as he graced you with a warm smile, the dimples in his cheeks growing. “Hey (Y/N),” he greeted you cheerfully. You returned the smile and replied with a, “I don’t know how you’re so cheerful all the time, Namjoon. It’s so admirable.” He smiled wider, dropping his gaze before fixing his eyes on you again.

“What’s the point in being miserable and grumpy all the time? If I’m positive and upbeat, maybe I can pass that off to other students stopping by to get their coffee,” he said with a shrug. You didn’t need to peruse the menu on the chalkboard behind him. You always got the same thing.

“So, are you going to switch it up on me,” he asked pressing on the screen in front of him. “Or are you going to be as predictable as always and get your usual?” he asked and you placed your hand on your chest. “You wound me with your words. It’s not my fault you make the best caramel macchiato and serve the most delicious banana nut muffins. This is your doing,” you playfully accused him as he rang up your order with a chuckle. He gave you his employee discount, something he did occasionally.

“Your total is $5.32,” he said and you handed over the change. Namjoon cashed you out and started on your coffee. “I forgot to ask,” he said turning to you. “Did you want that iced or hot?” he asked and you smiled. “Make it iced today,” you said before pulling out your phone to check your texts. You had a couple from your best friend, Jeongguk, and another from Chan.

[2019/09/29] Kookie [09:24]: are you awake? Kookie [09:24]: I want to go get pancakes Kookie [09:24]: and you’re the only person who will go with me Kookie [09:25]: ): pls be awake. I really want pancakes. You laughed before typing in your reply. You [09:25]: Sorry Gguk. I have a tutor lesson this morning. Raincheck?

His reply was instant.

Kookie [09:25]: UUUGGGHHHHH U SUCK ):< Kookie [09:25]: I’ll just go alone and order your favorite pancakes and eat them all! Kookie [09:26]: that’ll show you! You [09:26]: well, you’ll be paying for them lol I would hope you eat them Kookie [09:27]: …i did not think this through. ): how long is the lesson? You [09:27]: two hours… kill me. Kookie [09:27]: …I hate you D:< I’ll just go with Tae and Jimin You [09:28]: D: but pancakes are our thing!! Kookie [09:28]: NOT ANYMORE ):< You [09:29]: y must u hurt me like this? 💔 Kookie [09:29]: because u won’t go get pancakes with me 😤 You [09:29]: I have a lesson! Kookie [09:29]: E X C U S E S You rolled your eyes and left him on read to open Chan’s message. L.Chan [09:24]: Are you already at the student center? You [09:29]: yes. I’m here.

Namjoon’s voice brought you out of your thoughts and you pocketed your cell phone before stepping forward to grab your order. “Have a good day, (Y/N),” he said with a pleasant smile, one you returned. “You too, Namjoon!” you said before heading for the tutor room. You unlocked it with the key you were given by administration and set up your space. You unpacked your bag that contained an english book, the accompanying workbook, Chan’s file, as well as a small array of pencils, pens, highlighters, and whiteout. You opened your bag and pulled out the muffin before digging in.

Your phone buzzed on the table and you checked the notification. It was Chan.

[2019/09/29] L.Chan [09:30]: I don’t think I can make it.

You felt your blood boil and set your muffin down to type in your answer.

You [09:31]: and why not?

His reply came quickly.

L.Chan [09:31]: I’m not feeling well.

You narrowed your eyes before shooting a text to Jeongguk.

[2019/09/29] You [09:32]: hey, can I ask you something? Kookie [09:32]: that depends, are you going to cancel your lesson and come get pancakes with us? Kookie [09:32]: [image1279.jpg] You [09:32]: 1. Who tf took that picture?? You [09:33]: 2. 🙄 I’m serious, Gguk Kookie [09:33]: fiiiiine. what’s up? You [09:33]: was there a party last night? Kookie [09:34]: uhhh, not that I attended, why? You [09:34]: trying to catch someone in a lie Kookie [09:35]: ask Mingyu. I know you have his number and he’ll tell you anything. You [09:36]: ...shit u rite. Thanks. Kookie [09:36]: CANCEL YOUR LESSON AND COME GET PANCAKES. Tae misses you ): Kookie [09:36]: I MISS U (Y/N) - Tae You [09:37]: gimme a sex You [09:37]: SEC* gdi Kookie [09:37]: I’ll give you all the sex 😉 - Jimin You [09:38]:

Kookie [09:38]: D: - Jimin

You closed the thread with Jeongguk and opened Mingyu’s texts.

[2019/09/29] You [09:39]: Hey Gyu, are you awake?

Waiting for his response seemed to take forever but it was only a few minutes before he replied.

[2019/09/29] K.Mingyu [09:41]: yeah, what’s up? You [09:41]: was there a party last night? K.Mingyu [09:42]: yeah. It was at the Iota Nu Delta house. K.Mingyu [09:42]: The baseball team usually has their parties there after we win a game. You [09:42]: was the whole team there? K.Mingyu [09:43]: yeah! We all always go! We never miss an after game party! K.Mingyu [09:43]: why? You [09:43]: trying to catch someone in a lie. Thank you~ K.Mingyu [09:44]: …oh no. Am I in trouble? 😰 You [09:45]: not at all! ☺ you helped me. I’ll bring your fave to your next lesson~ K.Mingyu [09:46]: …ur the best tutor ever. ilysm 😍

You returned to Chan’s text.

[2019/09/29] You [09:47]: make sure to take some medicine for your hangover. I heard the party last night was a rager L.Chan [09:47]: i didn’t go to a party last night. You [09:48]: don’t lie to me. I expect to see you early on Wednesday or you can kiss your precious championship goodbye because i will not help you with your English course. L.Chan [09:48]: has anyone ever told you that you’re a vindictive bitch? You [09:49]: And make that three hours on Wednesday to make up for today. You [09:50]: have a good day~ 🤗

You closed his messages and got up, grabbing your things and packing them away before slinging your bag over your shoulder and sending a text to Jeongguk.

[2019/09/29] You [09:51]: wait for me. I’m coming for pancakes.

You got a notification for a new message and opened it.

[2019/09/29] [PANCAKE SQUAD] Kookie [09:52]: hello buttermilk bitches. Taehyungie [09:52]: ...don’t ever fucking call us that again. Minnie [09:53]: yeah that was weird. You [09:53]: G R O S S 🤢🤮 Minnie [09:53]: (Y/N)!! My baby~😍 Taehyungie [09:54]: she’s not ur baby Kookie [09:54]: N E WAY. Pancakes. Let’s get some. You [09:55]: I just gotta drop off my bag and I’ll be ready. Minnie [09:55]: cool, I’ll swing by on my way to pick the losers up. Taehyungie [09:56]: I live with you tho Kookie [09:56]: u better not pick (Y/N) up and forget us Jimin, istg Taehyungie [09:56]: I'm literally your roommate Minnie [09:56]: on my way (Y/N)~ Taehyungie [09:57]: JIMIN U ASS WAIT FOR ME You [09:57]: Okay!~

Your walk back to your dorm took no time at all and you were able to stash your bag and grab your wallet before heading back down to meet Jimin outside your building. Taehyung sat in the backseat with his arms crossed. He didn’t look happy. You made your way to Jimin’s car when he rolled the window down. “You’re up here with me, gorgeous!” he said and you opened the front passenger door to get in.

Jimin pulled out of the parking lot and made his way to Jeongguk’s building. “Why do you look like a mad owl, Tae?” you asked peering over your shoulder at him as he sulked. “He literally yelled at me when I tried to get in the front seat. ‘YOU CAN’T SIT THERE!’ ‘(Y/N) IS SITTING THERE!’ he was so mean. Like, I’m your roommate, does that mean nothing to you?” he asked looking at Jimin in the rear view mirror. Jimin laughed as he made the turn onto Jeongguk’s street.

“It does. But you aren’t a beautiful woman,” he said glancing up at the mirror. Taehyung huffed and sank lower in his seat. “You are a handsome man though,” you said looking back at Taehyung who smiled at you. “Thanks (Y/N),” he said as Jimin pulled to a stop and honked the horn. Jeongguk appeared moments later, running down the steps to the curb where the car waited.

He got in behind you and leaned forward to hug you against the seat. “I missed you,” he said, his face smashed against the back of your headrest muffling his voice. You laughed as you patted his arm. “You saw me two days ago,” you reminded him. “I know, but I’m used to seeing you everyday!” he said peering around the headrest at you.

The car ride was boisterous with the three of them yelling at each other and Jimin turning the music up on the stereo loud enough to drown out Taehyung and Jeongguk as they bickered. Jimin pulled into a space at the local breakfast cafe and the four of you hopped out. Jeongguk immediately rested his arm around your shoulder as he led the way into the cafe, Jimin and Taehyung brought up the rear.

This cafe had been your go to spot on Sunday mornings. It was a little off the beaten path so it was never hit with the post church crowd, especially when you went while services were going on. The hostess smiled at you as you entered. “Just four?” she asked and Jeongguk nodded while she grabbed four settings. “Booth, if possible!” Jimin added and she nodded, acknowledging his request.

She led the four of you through the cafe to the back corner to the only corner booth in the whole restaurant. You slid in, Jeongguk on the outside and Jimin next to you, Taehyung on the other side. The hostess set the menus down in front of you and told you that your server would be with you soon.

You looked over the menu, browsing the different pancake options. You usually got the same thing so you weren’t sure why you bothered looking at the menu. “What are you getting?” Jeongguk asked as you set your menu down. “The same thing I always get,” you said as the server arrived and asked for your drink orders. She left and returned moments later with an array of coffee, water, and juice.

You added sugar and cream to your coffee as she wrote down everyone’s orders and left to put them in. “So, who were you supposed to tutor this morning?” Jeongguk asked taking a sip of his banana milk. “Lee Chan,” you said taking a sip of your coffee. Jimin snorted into his own coffee. “On the baseball team?” he asked and you nodded. “He needs a tutor?” he asked stifling his laughter.

“As I recall, Jimin,” Jeongguk said glancing up at his friend. “You needed a tutor last year for math and had it not been for our very own (Y/N), you would have failed your exams. She didn’t even charge you for your lessons,” he added. Jimin’s ears turned red as he blushed and avoided his friends’ gazes. “Yeah, she charged me for my lessons!” Taehyung said leaning forward and glaring at you.

“She did charge me!” Jimin insisted and you agreed with a nod. “I did charge him for his lessons though. Not all of them, but I did that for you too,” you said looking at Taehyung. “I charged you for like 80 percent of them. Same with you,” you said as you looked over at Jeongguk. “So you charged us for only 80 percent of our lessons?” he asked and you nodded. “And it’s not even full price. Mingyu and Chan pay full price. I didn’t give a discount to anyone else,” you said taking another sip of coffee.

“That’s not true,” Taehyung said smirking at you and your heart sank. If he was about to call you out and reveal what you thought he was, you would never hear the end of it. “Who else did she give a discount to?” Jeongguk asked looking up at his friend. Taehyung’s smirk widened before he opened his mouth and said the two words that were certain to seal your fate and condemn you. “Kwon Soonyoung.”

“Really? Why Soonyoung?” Jeongguk asked looking at you. Taehyung chuckled before condemning you even further. “She has a crush on him.” Jimin whipped around to look at Taehyung before rounding on you. “Really?? Kwon Soonyoung?!” Jimin asked and you shushed him, peering anxiously around the cafe. “Yes. I had a crush on him. That was last semester!” you said quickly.

Taehyung snorted and shook his head. “Liar. I saw you fawning over him last week,” he said and you shot daggers at him with your eyes. If looks could kill. “Awww, our widdle (Y/N) is growing up so fast~!” Jeongguk said in a cooing voice as he pinched your cheek. You slapped his hand away and shot him a disgruntled look. He laughed and picked up his glass. “I’m just teasing, (Y/N),” he added.

Jimin took your hand and pressed it against his chest. “Feel that?” he asked and you looked from your hand against his shirt up to his face. The pained expression on his face present as he said dramatically, “that’s my heart breaking.” You scoffed and pulled your hand away. “Stop teasing me, guys,” you said and saw the server returning with your food. You had never been so happy to see a server in your life.

Once the food arrived, the boys couldn’t tease you anymore. You dug into your pancakes happily and ignored any questions hurled your way about Soonyoung and your obvious crush. “I just want to eat in peace,” you said looking at Jimin and Taehyung, the latter cackling softly as he cut up his pancakes into bite size pieces. The four of you continued to eat, speaking and joking occasionally.

When the bill came, the boys played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who would pay for breakfast. Jeongguk lost and had to pay for everyone. After paying the bill, the four of you made your way out of the building and towards the car where something, rather someone, caught your eye.

Lee Chan was getting out of a black sedan a few spaces behind Jimin’s car and with him was a strikingly beautiful woman. She had long straight black hair, very round eyes, a slim figure, and long legs. She wore a cute light pink dress with long sleeves, her legs painted in the espresso color of her tights and ankle high boots on her feet, giving her a much taller appearance. Chan’s eyes locked with yours and you felt your blood boil. First he cancels his appointment because he’s hungover and now this?

A smirk made an appearance on his face as he passed, cocking an eyebrow as if to say, ‘what?’ You narrowed your eyes and turned sharply from him to press yourself against Jeongguk, who had his arm around your shoulders. “Let’s get out of here,” you said to your friends, opening the back passenger door and getting in with Jeongguk. Jimin got into the driver’s seat and looked back to pout at you.

“You don’t want to sit up here with me?” he asked as Taehyung got in and you smiled. “I already rode up front. It’s someone else’s turn,” you said and Jimin glared at Taehyung who in turn gave him his big boxy smile before the ignition started and Jimin drove out of the parking lot. He headed back toward your dorm. “You sure you don’t wanna watch us practice?” Taehyung asked and you shook your head.

“I should study. Pretty sure my calculus professor is planning a pop quiz next class, so I want to be prepared,” you said and Jimin sighed loudly. “I just want you to come to one practice!” he said and you laughed, shaking your head. “Sorry, Minnie. I’ll be at the game though. I wouldn’t miss that for anything,” you added and when the car pulled to a stop you unbuckled your seatbelt.

“I’ll see you guys later.” You got out and waved as your friends pulled away before heading back up to your room to wrap yourself in a blanket and study. Seeing Chan had made you pretty mad. He was so damn smug and it irked you to no end. Who gave him the right? You were definitely not looking forward to his lesson next Wednesday.

The following Monday, you had stopped by to get your usual coffee and muffin. “(Y/N)!” What a surprise! What brings you here?” Namjoon asked jokingly and you rolled your eyes. “I came to see my favorite barista, of course!” you said as you approached the counter and Namjoon put your order in. You paid him and stepped aside to let the next person order, bumping into someone behind you.

You spun around, apologizing profusely when the breath was stripped from your lungs. You had run into Kwon Soonyoung, the same crush your friends had teased you about on Sunday. He smiled down at you, stunning you. God he was so handsome.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” he said and you saw Chan’s face appear from behind Soonyoung. Of course they were together, you thought. They’re best friends. Chan rolled his eyes and looked away uninterestedly. “Sorry, Soonyoung,” you said breathlessly and he waved his hand, dismissing your apology. “Don’t be. I’m fine,” he said with a wink.

A small nervous giggle escaped your lips but Soonyoung didn’t seem to notice. Chan, however, definitely noticed. His eyes turned upon you, his eyebrow raised and the corner of his lips twitched as your cheeks flushed light pink. He finally join in the conversation. “You know (Y/N)?” he asked his friend, feigning interest. Soonyoung nodded smiling at you.

“(Y/N) was my tutor last semester. She helped my pass my English exams. She’s amazing,” he said, his praise causing you to choke on your own saliva. “I’m n-not. I just wanted to help,” you stammered. Again, either he didn’t notice or didn’t care, Soonyoung just smiled at you. Chan knew. He could see it in your face and your body language. You were really dreading his next lesson.

Wednesday came and passed and soon it was 5:45 pm. You sat in the tutor room and the door opened. Chan entered and you were glad he was at least on time. He sat down across from you and dropped his bag on the desk, not looking up from his phone. “Let’s get this over with,” he said popping a piece of gum. “Put your phone down, then,” you said and his eyes snapped up to yours.

They had a darkness to them but he did as you said and set his phone face down on the table surface. “So, what are we learning?” he asked and you nodded pulling out the work book. You pushed it toward him. “Let’s get started,” you said and Chan sighed before opening the workbook while you went over the key grammar points of the language. You tested his vocabulary and were pleased when he did well.

An hour passed by quickly in this form and you stopped for a bathroom break. “So,” Chan said as you walked down the hall of the student center toward the restrooms. “Does Soonyoung know you have a huge crush on him?” he asked and you nearly stumbled. “W-what?” you asked incredulously. “I do not,” you insisted and Chan laughed loudly. “I may be failing English, but I’m not stupid. I saw you. You like him,” he said with a smirk and you shook your head. “No,” you said adamantly.

“You definitely do. I can tell that much,” he said and you ignored him, heading for the safety of the women’s bathroom. He laughed as you hurried away and into the confines of the tiled room, the door swung shut behind you. You were mad at yourself for slipping up in front of Soonyoung, but you were more mad at Chan for teasing you about it. How dare he?

You did your business and washed your hands. Outside the bathroom, Chan was waiting for you, leaning against the wall while he typed on his phone. You froze as you watched him. He had a smirk on his face, looking at the screen. What was he doing? Was he telling Soonyoung right now? You would never be able to face Soonyoung again if Chan told him.

You stormed up to him and stopped a few feet from him. Chan looked up and his expression shifted, his smirk dropping immediately. “What?” he asked and you glared at him. “Don’t tell him anything or I swear I will make your lessons hell,” you said and the smirk returned. “Oh? What makes you think I haven’t already told him?” he asked crossing his arms, tucking his phone close to him.

Your heart leapt into your throat at the idea that he may have. “D-did you?” you asked and Chan laughed standing up straight and opening his messages before showing you his texts with Soonyoung. “No, I haven’t. But maybe I will,” he said and your fingers curled, balling your hands into fists. “Do it and I will up your lessons to three times a week, four hours each,” you threatened and Chan’s smirk fell again.

“You wouldn’t,” he said softly and this time a smirk crossed your features as you leaned in, looking at him. “Try me,” you dared and he gulped. “Fine. I won’t say anything,” he said and put his phone in his pocket. You stood straight before nodding once and making your way back to the room, Chan in tow.

The rest of the lesson passed easily, Chan falling into line and doing as you asked. At the end, when you were packing up he turned toward you as he reached the door. “(Y/N)?” he asked and you looked up. “Yes?” you asked and he hesitated. “Nothing,” he said and shook his head. “See you Sunday,” he called as he left you sitting in the room, confused as hell. What the hell was that?

“That’s so stupid! It makes no sense!” Chan shouted throwing his pencil down and you groaned, dropping your head into your hands. Two weeks has passed since these forsaken lessons began and at every instance, Chan was getting on your last nerve. He was either stubborn or just plain stupid if he had this much trouble grasping the concept.

“It’s how it’s supposed to be said!” you said, as equally frustrated. “Why?” he asked and you groaned. Not this again. “I don’t know! That’s just the rules!” you said angrily. “What rules?! English has no rules! It beats other languages up in dark alleys, then rifles through their pockets for loose grammar and spare vocabulary!” Chan shouted and you paused, staring at him.

“What?!” he yelled and before you could think, you burst into laughter. Chan stared at you bewildered. “What the hell is so funny?” he asked and you pointed at him. “What you just said!” you said in between laughs. His angry facade dropped as he broke into a smile and started laughing along with you. “Well it’s true!” he said and you wiped a tear from your eye. “I mean, yeah it is,” you agreed before looking down at the worksheet and then at your watch. “Let’s stop here,” you said looking up at him.

“What?” he asked. “Why?” he leaned forward. “We’ve been at his nearly two hours and I didn’t get to eat lunch earlier since I was running late,” you said as you began packing up your things. Chan watched as you stacked your papers and put them away. “Well, let’s go get something to eat,” he said beginning to pack his things up. You froze, staring at him. “Let’s?” you asked and Chan looked up from his bag.

“Yeah, I’ll buy,” he said as he zipped up his bag and got to his feet. You stuffed your things in your bag and slung the strap over your shoulder, standing up slowly. “You don’t have to do that,” you said softly. “I was just going to go back to my room to eat,” you admitted and Chan scoffed.

“And what? Eat some instant ramen?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. You glared at him. “I’m offering to buy you real food, so come on,” he said and waved you to follow him. After a few minutes of hesitation, he poked his head around the door frame. “I’m not going to wait all day, come on,” he said and disappeared again.

You hurried out of the room after him. You followed him out of the student center and headed out to the parking lot. He led you over to a black sedan and you looked at him as he pulled the keys out and unlocked the doors. “Get in,” he said nodding at the car. You followed suit, opening the passenger door and sliding into the black interior of the car.

Clicking your seatbelt into place, Chan started the car and pulled out of the parking space. He drove out of the lot, heading for a side street instead of the main road. “Where are we going?” you asked looking around at the residential area he drove through.

“I found this quiet little diner in this neighborhood while I was on a run one day. I decided to come back and check it out later that week and fell in love with it. It’s definitely off the beaten path but it’s well worth it,” he said as he made a right turn and a small strip of business nestled in between houses came into view. Chan pulled around back into one of the handful of parking spaces and cut the engine.

You got out, leaving your bag in the car. Chan led you to the door and pulled it open, letting you go in before him. Once inside the building, you could see why he liked the place so much. It was small and cozy. Like a little cafe. There were only five tables in the whole restaurant.

Chan led you to one in the corner and the two of you took your seats. Moments later, a young waitress appeared, roughly about your age. She smiled at the two of you as she pulled a pad of paper and pen out of her apron.

“What can I get you two to drink?” she asked and you looked over the small menu in front of you. “Water,” Chan said smiling at her. You looked over the beverages before ordering the same. She walked away to get your drinks while you looked over the menu again.

“I always get the same thing here,” he said and let you look over the menu. When the server returned with a glass pitcher full of ice water which she then set on the table before holding her pad ready to write down your orders. “What can I get for you?” she asked.

“I just want the Mac and cheese with chicken,” Chan said without touching the menu. The server nodded, scribbling that down before turning to you. “Uh, just the chicken Florentine,” you said setting the menu back on the table. She jotted that down and turned to put your orders in, leaving you in silence. Chan looked out the window across the room from your table.

You took the time to look around the room, taking in the decor. The walls were a medium to dark brown wood, matching the wood on the floor. The small round tables seated four people at most and were covered in white table cloths. Each table had a small arrangement in the center, a little collection of tealights and a slender vase with a couple white flowers sticking out of the top. Crystal goblets with silver rims sat upside down on the tables not in use.

The chairs were adorned with white gauze that tied into simple knots in the back before draping down toward the floor. Huge windows faced the street, letting in as much natural light as allowed, the rest of the light came from the strings of warm white lights that crisscrossed overhead across the restaurant. Sconces on the walls added more warm light to the room. Two large ceiling fans spun at a medium speed above the string lights keeping the room nice and cool.

Chan cleared his throat softly and snapped you out of your trance as you lowered your eyes from the ceiling down to him. “It’s nice, isn’t it?” he asked and you nodded, uncertain of what to say at this point. You hadn’t expected this to be such an intimate setting and you certainly hadn’t expected Chan to bring you to it of all people. He surprised you and you weren’t sure if you like it.

“Yeah,” you replied softly looking away from him. You felt the tension between you rise but it was broken when the server returned with your food. The two of you thanked her for the food but you were more grateful that you had something to keep you occupied. The food was definitely delicious and you were extremely surprised by the place. You would have to remember how to get here in the future.

When you had eaten as much as you could, you set your utensils down as Chan finished his bowl of mac and cheese. He looked at your plate and then up at you. “Do you want to take that with you?” he asked nodding at your leftovers as he pulled his wallet out. “Oh,” you said and looked down at the plate, nodding. “Yeah,” you said quietly as the server came to drop off the bill. “Could we get a to-go box?” he asked, handing her his card and she nodded.

You bit your bottom lip and looked out the window at the darkening street. You turned your head back and saw Chan watching you. Warmth grew in your cheeks and you looked away again. The server returned with Chan’s card and a box which she handed to you. Thanking her, you took the box and started to dump your leftovers in the box, shutting it and setting your plate down.

Chan signed the slip and put his card back in his wallet before pulling out a couple bills and setting them on the table. He turned to you. “Are you ready?” he asked and caught you off guard. It seemed like he was treating this like a date and you didn’t know how to proceed, so you just nodded and stood quickly, grabbing the box with your food in it. Chan led you out of the restaurant and out to the car parked in the back. You got in, setting your food in your lap and buckled your seatbelt quickly.

Without a word, Chan started the car and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street, taking a familiar route back to the campus. Silence surrounded you, bathing you in it as a tension rose between you again. The air was thick with it as neither one of you said a word. Chan pulled onto a street on campus. “Where is your dorm?” he asked and you looked over at him. “Oh, I live in Ha Rin Hall,” you said looking over at him. “You live in Unicorn Hall?” he asked with a smirk.

“Hey, it has suites! I don’t have to share my room,” you snapped and Chan held up a hand. “I’m not judging!” he said and you rolled your eyes. “Whatever,” you said looking out your window. The drive took only a few minutes and before you knew it, he had pulled up outside your dorm hall entrance. “Here,” he said and you looked up before turning to him as you unbuckled your seatbelt. “Thanks, for dinner,” you said as you grabbed your things. He nodded. “Sure thing,” he said.

You got out of the car and shut the door. Chan rolled the window down. “See you Sunday!” he called and you turned back as you headed up the sidewalk. The look in his eyes caught you off guard and you stumbled over your words.

“Y-yeah. S-Sunday!” you agreed before turning back toward your building and racing up to the door and punching in the code. You rushed inside and to the elevator, pressing the button several times. When the doors opened, you launched yourself inside and pressed the button for your floor.

Your heart hammered against your ribs and you weren’t sure if it was from running inside or the look Chan had given you when he called out to you from inside his car. You opted for the former, refusing to acknowledge the look. It didn’t happen, so forget it.

Once on your floor, you passed your common room and unlocked your door to your room, shutting and locking it behind you before depositing your things in your chair. You put your leftovers in the mini fridge and shook your head. It was nothing. Stop thinking about it!

You got ready for bed, determined to just pretend like the whole night was normal. You changed into your pj's, brushed your teeth and made sure your alarm was set. You climbed into your bed and pulled the covers up, sleep soon taking you over.

The next morning, you woke before your alarm did and decided to get up anyway, despite having 20 minutes left. You showered and dried off, getting ready for your first class of the day. After leaving your dorm, you stopped by the student center to grab a coffee and a muffin before your first lecture.

You had just reached the end of the line when you heard your name. Looking up, you saw Chan and Soonyoung standing near the pickup counter, Soonyoung waving at you. Chan eyed him suspiciously but ultimately looked away from his friend to nod at you. The two walked over after getting their coffee.

“Hey,” you said smiling at Soonyoung. “Chan told me how his lessons are going,” he said looking at his friend who immediately looked at him wide eyed. “Oh?” you asked nervously. Soonyoung nodded. “He told me I was right and that you are a good teacher,” Soonyoung said. You glanced at Chan to see his cheeks a soft pink. “Did he now?” you asked, slightly smug.

Soonyoung nodded. “Yeah,” he said patting his friend on the back. “Aren’t you also tutoring Jeon Jeongguk? He’s spoken quite highly of you,” Soonyoung said and you nodded. “Yeah. He’s my best friend, but I tutor him on Tuesdays and Fridays,” you said.

A feeling of uneasiness washed over you. The look Chan was giving you burned through your body. His expression was blank but it was unmistakable. He was livid. You didn’t know what his problem was. “Hey, aren’t you taking her lessons, too?” Soonyoung asked looking at his friend. Chan forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah, Sundays and Wednesdays,” he said.

“You’re a pretty popular tutor!” Soonyoung said winking. “Chan on Sundays and Wednesdays, Jeongguk on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Mingyu on Thursdays and Saturdays! You’re a pretty busy girl!” Soonyoung said with a laugh. You chuckled, still feeling unnerved by the look Chan was giving you.

“Well, we won’t keep you, see you around (Y/N)!” Soonyoung said before pulling Chan along, no doubt heading for an early morning practice for baseball. You sighed a breath of relief before approaching the counter to place your order. “Iced caramel macchiato and a banana nut muffin?” the blonde haired barista smiled. You chuckled and nodded. “Pretty predictable, huh?” you asked as you fished your wallet out. “It’s nice to have a semblance of continuity,” he said as he rang you up.

“I won’t charge you for the muffin,” he added. “Just don’t tell anyone,” he added in a whisper. “Your secret’s safe with me,” you replied in a whisper. “Thanks Namjoon,” you added. He smiled as you paid for your coffee and stepped aside to wait for it. Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you pulled it out. It was a text from Chan.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [06:41]: how many students do you tutor? You [06:42]: like 4 or 5. Why? L.Chan [06:42]: … L.Chan [06:43]: why didn’t you say you were tutoring more students? You [06:44]: does it matter? L.Chan [06:44]: no L.Chan [06:45]: nvm. Forget i said anything. See you Sunday.

You stared at your phone in confusion before Namjoon’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. He held out your coffee and a paper bag. “Thanks,” you said with a smile. “Have a good day, (Y/N). See you tomorrow!” You headed for your class and ate your muffin on the way.

Your first lecture passed quickly but your phone kept buzzing in your pocket so you turned the vibration off. Upon leaving you checked your phone. You had 10 missed texts. Two were from Mingyu explaining he couldn’t make his lesson for the day. You shot back a text that his workload would double on Saturday and he better not skip. He replied instantly.

[2019/10/10] K.Mingyu [08:03]: I’ll be there I promise! My mom has her follow up for her test today and I really wanted to be there for her. I’m sorry I had to cancel. You [08:03]: I’m only jesting, Gyu. Take care of your mom. I hope everything goes well. Let me know how she’s doing. I’ll see you next Thursday. Take Saturday off to be with her. K.Mingyu [08:05]: you are literally the best. Thank you so much, (Y/N)!

You turned your attention to the eight other missed texts. They were all from Chan.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [07:21]: who else are you tutoring? L.Chan [07:23]: me, Mingyu, Jeongguk, who else? L.Chan [07:25]: Not that it matters. I’m just curious L.Chan [07:31]: Have any of them taken you to dinner?? L.Chan [07:32]: wait nvm don’t answer that. L.Chan [07:40]: … actually, answer that. L.Chan [07:44]: why the hell aren’t you answering me?? L.Chan [07:56]: shit. You’re in class. Duh. i’m stupid. Ignore me.

You stared in disbelief at your phone until the ellipsis at the bottom of the screen appeared indicating he was typing. You panicked and closed your texting app and locked your screen before shoving your phone deep in your bag. You didn’t want to know what he said.

Instead you headed for the student center to take advantage of the quiet room to finish going over your homework to make sure it was finished. You had just sat down when you heard footsteps approaching and you looked up to see it was Chan. He stopped right in front of you before he grabbed your bag and started rifling through it. “Hey!” you whisper yelled trying to take your bag back. He pulled your phone out and shoved it at you. You stared at him for a few moments. He nodded at your phone, indicating you to look at it. You rolled your eyes and opened it, checking his message.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [08:07]: where are you? L.Chan [08:10]: I know you read my messages which means you’re out of class. I know you have a free period. I want to talk. L.Chan [08:12]: why are you ignoring me?

Chan snatched your phone out of your hand and look at the screen. You angrily snatched your phone back and grabbed your bag before pointing to the exit and led the way, Chan following closely behind you. Once exiting the quiet room, Chan grabbed your arm and led you away from the crowded court of the student center and away toward an empty classroom.

“What are you doing?” you hissed as he opened the door and shoved you in, shutting the door behind you. “I wanted to talk to you!” he said and leaned against the door, arms crossed in front of him. “Well, then talk!” you snapped and he narrowed his eyes.

“What is your problem?” he asked and you scoffed. “My problem? What is your problem? All those texts? Following me to the quiet room and looking through my bag? Taking my phone? Why are you acting like some jealous boyfriend?!” you snapped and Chan froze.

He regained his composure before slipping into a cool facade. “I am not. I just forgot that you were in a lecture, that’s all.” You crossed your arms. “Okay, then why are you asking me about my other tutor students like it’s somehow your business?” you asked and he shrugged. “I told you, I was curious,” he reiterated. You narrowed your eyes at him. “Right, sure,” you said.

“I’m not jealous. I just didn’t realize your schedule was so full,” he said and you nodded slowly. “So, can I go now? I need to finish going over my homework. It’s due my next class,” you said and Chan nodded but didn’t move. You waited patiently for him to stand up but he didn’t. You groaned and moved forward, determined to push him out of the way if you had to.

Upon reaching the door, Chan grabbed you by the arm and spun, pushing you against the door and pining you there. You let out a small yelp as he did. He stood there, his body pressing yours against the door, his hands pressed against the door on either side of your head. “What are you doing?” you whispered, your heart racing and finding it hard to breathe.

Chan stared at you, his head lowering until his lips were mere inches from yours. A loud crack of thunder sounded across the campus catching you, and thankfully, Chan off guard. He jumped and this allowed you enough of a window to open the door and race out of the room and as far away from him as possible. You took refuge in the ladies bathroom, ignoring the chime of the clock tower as eight thirty hit.

You were late for your class but you knew your professor would grant you a pass for turning in your assignment late. She loved having you in class. You hid in the bathrooms for nearly twenty minutes before braving the halls and heading back to your dorm, deciding to skip your classes and submit your homework from the safety of your room instead.

You made it back without instance and once you were locked in your room, you submitted the rest of your homework virtually and tucked yourself away in your bed. You were glad that Mingyu had decided to cancel his lessons for the day as you were a mess.

What the hell had gotten into Chan? What gave him the right to behave like that? What did he think you were to him? He took you to dinner one time and he thought you suddenly belonged to him? Bullshit. You wouldn’t stand for it. You would set him straight the next lesson.

You decided to order food instead of go out and interact with anyone. You sat in your room, eating your pizza when the first text came in.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [18:22]: Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. L.Chan [18:23]: You’re my tutor and I shouldn’t have done that. Let’s just forget this and put it behind us. I’ll see you on Sunday? You [18:25]: Sunday. Consider it forgotten.

You threw your phone on your sheets and laid back, groaning when you felt the vibration near your foot. You reached down to grab the device and read the message.

L.Chan [18:26]: K

You threw your phone back down on the blanket and pulled the edge over your head and screamed into your pillow. He was a confusing asshole and you needed to put all of this out of your mind if you were going to get through the rest of his lessons without anymore incident.

Safe to say, you were dreading Chan’s Sunday lessons as they drew closer. Jeongguk noticed you seemed a little more tense that usual on Friday. “What’s wrong?” he asked, placing his hand on yours as you fiddled with your pencil. You shook your head. “Just class,” you lied and he squeezed your hand softly. Looking up, you were met with his warm eyes. You sighed, knowing he saw right through your lies.

“It’s these lessons with Chan. He’s such an asshole!” you said in a whisper yell. Jeongguk laughed as he sat back. “What’s new? He’s always been a brat,” he said and you glared at him. “Not helping,” you said and he shrugged. “What do you want me to say?” he asked and you shook your head.

“I just don’t get him. First he’s an asshole and teasing me about my crush on his best friend, and then he’s all sweet and takes me out to eat, and then-” you spilled out but Jeongguk held his hands up to stop you. “Whoa, wait a second. He did what?!” he asked and you covered your mouth when you realized you had forgotten to tell Jeongguk about Wednesday. “He took you out to eat?” he asked incredulously and you nodded slowly.

“When the hell were you gonna tell me this?” he demanded angrily and you shrugged. “Sorry,” you whispered. Jeongguk shook his head and gestured for you to continue your rant. You launched back into it. “And then,” you said and gulped, knowing the next part would set your best friend off again.

“And then, what?” he asked and you hesitated, looking at Jeongguk. His arms were crossed, his expression unreadable but his eyes told you all you needed to know. He was waiting patiently for you to continue. You took a deep breath and spoke again. “Then he found out I’m tutoring people other than him and he got… upset? He asked why I didn’t tell him I was tutoring other people. I told him it didn’t matter but he was still mad, so when I tried to leave, he pinned me against the wall and almost kissed me,” you finished and Jeongguk leaned forward. “What the fuck?” he hissed.

“You should have told me this! I would have knocked his lights out!” he added and you looked down at the table to avoid his gaze. The two of you were silent until he finally broke it. “I’m calling an emergency and cancelling this lesson,” he said and you looked up at him. “We’re going out. You need a night out,” he said and you shook your head. “You can’t cancel lessons,” you chuckled and he stuffed his things in his bag and started packing your things up.

“Jeongguk! Only I can cancel lessons!” you said before he grabbed your hand and pulled you up to your feet. You let out a little squeal and erupted into giggles as he dragged you to your dorm room from your floor’s common room. “You’re going in there and you’re going to change. It’s Friday night, you seem stressed so as your best friend, I’m taking you out tonight, we’re going to get drunk and then you can sleep in tomorrow since Mingyu cancelled!” he said as he pushed you toward your door.

“You can’t make that decision!” you laughed and Jeongguk shook his head. “I’m not listening until you change into something that gets the blood flowing!” he said over you. Rolling your eyes, you unlocked the door and stepped inside, Jeongguk following behind you. He sat on your bed as you entered your bathroom and shut the door. He was right. You needed a break and what better way than to drink and let loose. You started to pull stuff out of your closet, trying them on before showing him.

“That top, yes, those bottoms? No,” he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Don’t you have any clubbing dresses or something?” he asked and you shook your head. “I’m not wearing that again, I told you already!” you said and Jeongguk hopped up, pushing his way into your closet to search for the dress you were both talking about. He found it crumpled on the floor and picked it up, shaking it and holding it up.

"You’re wearing this,” he said and you shook your head. “No, the fuck I’m not!” you shouted and he raised an eyebrow. “Either you’re going to put this on yourself, or I will strip you and put it on you myself,” he threatened. You snatched the dress from him and shoved him out of your bathroom, shutting the door and locking it. You stripped down to your bra and panties and pulled the dress on.

“I need you to zip it up,” you called through the door. You unlocked it, letting Jeongguk in. He zipped the back of the dress up for you and whistled when you turned around. “Goddamn, if you weren’t like a sister to me, I’d totally take you home with me tonight,” he said with a wink. You pushed him out and gagged. “Disgusting. You’re disgusting!” Jeongguk laughed as you searched for a pair of shoes to go with the dress. Once dressed, your hair done, and makeup on, you looked at yourself in the mirror.

“I hate you so much,” you said as you fished your ID and debit card out of your bag and handed them to Jeongguk. He tucked them in his wallet for safekeeping before checking his watch. “Come on, Cinderella, or we’ll be late for the ball,” he said jokingly as you took one last glance in the mirror.

The dress was a stunning black velvet with an off the shoulder sweetheart neckline and sleeves the extended down just past your wrists. The tulip skirt stopped about mid-thigh, hugging your hips snugly. Under the dress you wore your favorite black lace bra and gray panties. The heels you chose were the same ones you had worn for a New Year’s party. Gold faded into black with red bottoms.

You grabbed your phone off the desk and followed Jeongguk out of your room. He led you to the elevator which you took down to the lobby and caught an Uber to the club Jeongguk frequented. “I can’t believe you haven’t gone out since that night,” Jeongguk said shaking his head. He was speaking, of course, about the same night you threw a drink in Chan’s face at a frat party.

“Oh, can it, Gguk,” you said as the car pulled to a stop at the curb. Jeongguk got out, helping you out after him. He took your hand and led you to the end of the line. In no time, you reached the doors. While waiting, a particularly loud group of guys exited the club and you recognized them. It was Chan and his friends from the baseball team, Soonyoung, Jihoon, Jeonghan, and their captain, Seungcheol.

Your heart skipped a beat when you saw Soonyoung. A huge smile on his face as he and his friends left the club. He looked particularly stunning in the tight black jeans he was wearing with small rips on his upper thighs and again at his knees. The black bomber jacket he wore open showed off the plain white tee shirt underneath. Your breath stunted as he brought a hand up to brush his hair back, showing off his forehead. A simple gesture, but something that still made your knees weak. God he looks good.

As the group passed by, Soonyoung caught sight of you and called out. “Hey, (Y/N)!” he said and Chan’s attention snapped to you as the group stopped. He was wearing a bright red hoodie under a black jacket with black jeans. He looked surprised to see you. You said hello to the guys why Jeongguk handed the bouncer both your IDs. “Holy shit,” Soonyoung said as he looked you over. Your heart beat faster while your stomach did somersaults at his reaction.

“Damn, why the hell are we leaving?” he asked, turning to look at Seungcheol who laughed and waved at you. “Because we’re not even supposed to drink the night before a game,” he said with a smile. Chan’s eyes were glued to you as he looked you up and down. Jeongguk placed a hand on your lower back to get your attention.

“Let’s go,” he said softly and both Soonyoung and Chan looked at him, startled as if they hadn’t noticed him standing next to you the whole time.. “Oh! Jeon!” Soonyoung said smiling brightly at him. “You’re a lucky guy!” Jeonghan said nodding toward you with a wink. Jeongguk laughed and shook his head. “No, it’s not like that. We’re just friends. We have been for some time,” he said and you nodded, avoiding Chan’s gaze.

“It’s a damn shame we have to leave,” Jihoon said also giving you the once over and a smirk. Your cheeks burned pink with embarrassment. “I’m going to strangle you in your sleep,” you said to Jeongguk. “I made her wear this,” he said nodding at your ensemble. “Good choice,” Jeonghan said, nodding in approval. Your cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink and when your eyes met Chan’s you felt something stir deep in your stomach. The way he was looking at you was so… primal.

You looked away quickly as the group began to depart. “Have a good night!” Soonyoung called as he grabbed Chan and pulled the younger man away. When you peered over your shoulder, you saw Chan look back at you before Jeongguk led you into the club. Inside was loud, hot, and packed. Strobe lights blinded you as Jeongguk made his way through the crowd, pulling you along as he headed for the bar.

He ordered both of you two shots each and a drink for you. He was determined to get you drunk. Once you were three shots in, he pulled you onto the dance floor. “You’re going to have fun whether you like it or not!” he said in your ear over the bass as he pulled you into him and started moving to the beat. If he had been any other guy, you would have pushed him away, possibly even slapped him.

You had known Jeongguk for so long that you felt the most comfortable dancing with him because you knew he would never take it too far. The heat of the bodies around you mixed with the alcohol made your head swim and you leaned into Jeongguk, asking him to get you some water. He nodded and left the dance floor to get you some. A very bad move.

A few moments later, you felt two hands on your hips. Assuming it was Jeongguk you leaned into the frame behind you. “Did you get my water?” you asked over the music. You felt his lips near your ear but the voice that spoke wasn’t Jeongguk’s. “Are you thirsty?”

You spun around and were met face to face with Chan. His hands held your hips in place. “What are you doing?” you asked and he smiled, pulling you into him. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked and you gulped. If you said no, things would progress and you knew they would go too far. If you said yes however he would leave and you didn’t want that.

Luckily, you didn’t have to answer. Jeongguk returned with your water and pulled you out of Chan’s grip. “Don’t you have a baseball game tomorrow you should be getting rest for?” he asked over the music. Chan shrugged. “It’s still pretty early and the game isn’t until tomorrow evening.” Jeongguk handed you the water, keeping a protective hold around your waist as you took a huge gulp of water.

“Regardless, I brought her here and I’m responsible for her,” he said. Chan laughed, rolling his eyes. “Do you honestly think I would do anything to hurt her? I’m not that kind of guy and you know it, Jeon!” Chan said over the bass. Jeongguk still didn’t release you. “Unless she tells me to buzz off, I’m not letting her out of my sight,” he said as you finished your water. “Jeongguk,” you said with your head a little clearer.

He looked down at you. “I think one dance is okay,” you said to him. Jeongguk looked from you to Chan. “Just one,” you added, pointing at Chan. He nodded in agreement and Jeongguk reluctantly let go of you. He slipped between the crowd, no doubt going to keep watch somewhere. Chan took your hand and pulled you into him. “Once dance, Chan, I mean it,” you said and he smirked at you.

“After once dance, you’ll want another, and then another,” he said and you rolled your eyes, lightly slapping him on the shoulder. “No I won’t,” you said as he held your hips and turned you so you were facing away from him. His lips brushed against your cheek before he whispered, “one dance and you’ll want to come home with me.” Your heart leapt in your chest as you tried to control your breathing. Get it together, (Y/N), you told yourself. This is Chan, not Soonyoung.

Without warning, Chan pulled your hips back against his and you nearly moaned at the feeling of his obvious erection pressing against your backside. His lips trailed up your neck before stopping by your ear, his breath hot against your skin. “Do you see what you do to me? Do you feel what you do to my body?” he breathed rolling his hips against you. A small moan left your lips and Chan wrapped an arm around your waist.

“Come back with me. You know you want to,” he hissed and you shook your head. “I can’t,” you whimpered. He chuckled lowly in your ear, one of his hands sliding down and around to grab your hip, his fingers sinking into the soft flesh. “Come on,” he said, pulling your hips back against his crotch again, causing another hot moan leaving your throat. “God you sound so good,” he whispered.

His hand on your hip slid to your stomach to hold you against him again. “Come back with me. Let me take care of you,” he said as you continued to sway to the music, your ass grinding against his hips. “Let me taste you, (Y/N). I’ll make you feel so good, baby,” he said, nipping at your neck. “Please, Chan. I can’t,” you breathed.

He stopped, turning you so you were facing him. “Can’t or won’t?” he asked and you shook your head. “I can’t, Chan,” you repeated. Chan scoffed, letting go of your hips as he backed away. You looked into his eyes hooded with lust before cocked his head. “One last chance,” he offered and when you hesitated, he turned and walked away leaving you on the dance floor and taking your breath with him.

Jeongguk must have seen because he was by your side in seconds. “Let’s get you home,” he said and led you off the dance floor and toward the door. “He’s such an L.Chan,” you hissed as Jeongguk led you out into the cool night air. “What?” Jeongguk asked as he pulled his phone out and requested an Uber pick up. You fell silent and when the car arrived, Jeongguk didn’t ask anymore questions.

He took you back to your dorm to drop you off, making sure you made it safely before he left and headed back to his building. You unzipped your dress and slid it off, replacing it with your pajamas. When you threw your dress in your hamper, you heard your phone go off. You walked over to check it. A text from Chan.

L.Chan [00:13]: why wouldn’t you just come back with me? Do you know how much I want you? You [00:14]: I couldn’t just leave Gguk L.Chan [00:14]: so you left with Jeon?? L.Chan [00:14]: Did you go back to his place? L.Chan [00:15]: Are you gonna fuck him?? You [00:15]: i told you, Jeongguk is my FRIEND. I’m not interested in him like that. L.Chan [00:16]: so are you in your room right now? You [00:16]: yes. L.Chan [00:17]: alone?? You [00:17]: yes, goddamn L.Chan [00:18]: prove it. Prove it to me.

You took a picture of you laying in your bed and sent that in the text with the caption, “would i send this if i wasn’t alone?”

L.Chan [00:19]:...are you teasing me?? You [0019]: and what if I am?

It was a moment before he responded and when he did, he sent an image. Upon opening it, you saw it was the outline of his erection through his boxers, his blanket pushed just below it.

L.Chan [00:19]: you did this, now come and fix it. You [00:20]: make me~ L.Chan [00:20]: I’m coming over, let me in You [00:20]: you have a game tomorrow L.Chan [00:21]: i don’t give a shit. I’m coming over and i’m gonna fuck you You [00:22]: no you’re not. L.Chan [00:23]: why the hell not? 😠 You [00:23]: because I said so. L.Chan [00:24]: then send me a picture. Help a guy out 😣

You scoffed and threw your phone on your bed. He has some nerve. You weren’t normally the kind of girl to send provocative pictures, but in your drunken state, it was tempting. Your thoughts were interrupted but a vibration on your mattress which caught your attention. Chan had sent you a picture.

You opened it much too quickly. In the picture, Chan had pulled himself out of his underwear and your jaw dropped. He was much larger than you thought. You felt your phone buzz again.

L.Chan [00:25]: you like the picture? 😉 L.Chan [00:25]: Come over and let me fuck you. L.Chan [00:25]: At least let me taste you. L.Chan [00:25]: Bury my face between those gorgeous thighs of yours and make you come all over my 👅

The temptation was there. You would be lying if you said you didn’t want to. Instead, you sat up, taking off your shirt before lying back and pushing your shorts off, throwing them on the floor. You took another picture in the semi darkness of your room. You sent it to Chan.

You [00:26]: I’m too drunk to come over. 🤪

He answered quicker than he had in the past.

L.Chan [00:27]: fuck you’re beautiful. I want to come all over that lace bra 💦 You [00:27]: keep saying that and I’ll up your lesson plan 🙅🏻‍♀️ L.Chan [00:28]: goddammit, i want to bend you over the table in that stupid room L.Chan [00:28]: fuck you until you can’t walk in the morning. You [00:30]: … you can’t do that. Not in there L.Chan [00:30]: why not? L.Chan [00:30]: don’t want everyone to know what a dirty slut you are? 😏 You [00:31]: i’m not the one sending dick pics to his tutor L.Chan [00:32]: pics of a dick you want to choke on 🍆 You [00:33]: bold of you to presume that L.Chan [00:33]: send me another picture. This time, no bra You [00:33]: so demanding 🙄 L.Chan [00:33]: shut up and just do it. I want to see you You [00:36]: what do i get in return? 🤷🏻‍♀️ L.Chan [00:36]: gimme a sex L.Chan [00:36]: sec* lol

A few moments later, a video clip appeared in the thread. You clicked on it. Chan’s hand was wrapped around the shaft of his cock, slowly moving up and down. You heard him hiss in the background. “I wish this was your mouth instead of my hand,” he whispered.

Your walls clenched around nothing and you immediately got up, walking over to your full length mirror, you wrapped an arm under your breasts, pushing them up and snapped a picture, the strap of your bra slipping down your shoulder. His reply was instantaneous.

L.Chan [00:39]: ugh stop teasing me baby 😫

A giggle escaped you as you slid your panties down your thighs before undoing your bra and slipping that off. You raised a finger out in front of you, covering your breasts and sex all at once before snapping another picture and sending it to Chan. Might as well make him suffer.

L.Chan [00:39]: fucking hell 😳😍 You [00:40]: are you still touching yourself? 👀 L.Chan [00:40]: yesss You [00:41]: you want to Facetime? 😘 L.Chan [00:42]: fuck. Yes. 😍

Your phone lit up with an incoming call. You hopped into your bed before answering it. Half expecting to be met with Chan’s dick, you were surprised to see his face instead. “I wish you would have just let me come over,” he said in a breathy voice. “Sorry~,” you said in a sweet voice. “Don’t lie to me,” he said, a small moan leaving his lips.

“I’m not. I am sorry. I’m being responsible, Chan. I’m your tutor,” you said and he groaned. “Only in that room. Outside of it, you’re my peer. Peers can fuck. So let me fuck you,” he said, his breath speeding up. “Are you close?” you asked and he nodded. “Keep going,” you said softly, watching the way his eyes fluttered shut and he bit his bottom lip to keep quiet.

“Do you have a roommate?” you asked and he shook his head. “Then don’t hold back. Let me hear you,” you said, your hand wandering to your already wet core. “Are you touching yourself to this?” Chan asked and you smiled before nodded. “I am,” you replied feeling the wetness seeping between your folds. “Let me see,” Chan said and you tapped to switch to rear facing camera where it was pointed at your hand disappearing between your thighs.

“Fuck that’s so hot,” Chan’s voice said and you returned to front facing camera. “I want to taste you so bad, (Y/N),” he whimpered. Your walls clenched when he let out a moan. Your fingers worked against your clit, teasing yourself as you brought yourself closer and closer to the edge. “Keep going, keep touching yourself,” he said when a small moan slipped between your lips. “Fuck, what I wouldn’t give to hear that in person.”

“Do you want my cock, baby?” he asked and you nodded, slipping a finger inside your wet heat. “God, I want you inside me so bad,” you whined. “Should have let me come over,” he said with a smirk. You groaned, curling your fingers to hit your sweet spot. “Fuck baby, do that again. Let me see what you’re doing,” he demanded. You turned the camera and continued to fuck yourself with your fingers.

“How many fingers are you using?” he asked. “Two,” you replied. “Add another, that’s how many I would use to get your ready to take me,” he said and you complied, adding a third finger, enjoying the slight sting as your stretched yourself. “I bet you’re nice and wet, perfect for me to slide right in. God I want to fuck you so bad. Pound into you. I want you to scream my name.”

You whimpered at his words, speeding up your pace. “Would you like that, baby? My hard cock in your tight hole?” he asked and you nodded. “Yes, I want your hard cock inside me, Chan,” you moaned. He chuckled lowly. “Such a good little slut for me. You’re a good girl, aren’t you?” he asked. “Yes,” you breathed feeling your orgasm draw closer. “Yes what?” he asked. “Yes, I’m a good girl,” you breathed.

“Are you close?” he asked, his breathing shallow as he neared his climax. You nodded with a whimper as you bit your lip. “Good, keep going baby. Come for me all over your fingers like a good slut,” he said as he sped up. “Only if you come all over yourself,” you breathed and Chan chuckled again. “Okay baby. I’ll do that. Now don’t stop until you come. Tell me how good you feel,” he said and you moaned.

Your orgasm approached rapidly, your toes curling in bliss as you continued to pleasure yourself at his words. “Does it feel good, babygirl?” Chan asked you. “Yes, yes,” you moaned. “I’m so close,” you whined. “Keep going, baby. Be a good girl and come for me,” Chan whispered, barely audible. Your high hit you and you came with a whimper and a moan of Chan’s name as you continued to ride out your climax.

“Fucking shit, baby,” Chan groaned as he released on his end with a low moan. He shuddered on camera, eyes shut as he came down from his orgasm. The two of you sat there in your beds silent as you both basked in the afterglow of your orgasms. “God damnit (Y/N). Next time just let me come over and fuck you,” Chan said, panting. You let out a shaky laugh. “Next time,” you murmured.

“Get some sleep, Chan. You have a game in the morning,” you said as you sat up. “What are you going to do?” he asked, his face squished against the pillows on his bed. “I’m taking a shower and then going to bed,” you answered. Chan smiled and nodded. “Okay. You do that. I’ll text you tomorrow,” he said and you shook your head. “You don’t have to do that,” you answered. He merely shrugged, with a smile and said, “I want to. Goodnight, (Y/N).” He hung up before you had a chance to answer. “Night, Chan.”

The next morning you awoke to knocking on your door. You groaned as you opened your eyes and looked around. Your floor was littered with your clothing from the night before. You had fallen asleep naked. Your head throbbed as the knocking continued. A small whimper left your lips as you rolled over and wrapped the blankets around you. You slid off the bed, making sure you were covered before you unlocked and cracked the door. Jeongguk was on the other side.

“I come bearing gifts,” he said holding up a paper sack and a coffee. “I also brought Tylenol,” he added and you opened the door, hiding behind it so no one would see you wrapped in your blanket. Jeongguk entered the room and whistled when he looked around. You shut the door and padded over to your bed. “Who did you fuck last night?” he asked as he handed you the coffee and bag.

You shook your head and hid in your wrap as you opened the bag. Inside were two breakfast burritos and a small side of hash browns. You whispered a blessing upon Jeongguk as you unwrapped a burrito and dug in. Jeongguk looked at your clothes on the floor again. “If you didn’t fuck anyone last night, why are your clothes everywhere?” You looked up at him, mouth full of burrito.

“Cause I was drunk and too lazy to put my clothes away?” you answered and Jeongguk laughed. “Or to put clothes on I see,” he said nodding at your bare shoulders and collar. “Fuck off,” you said before taking another bite of burrito. Jeongguk stood up and made his way into your closet. “Jeongguk, get out of my closet you pervert!” you called in a groggy voice. You lifted the coffee to your lips and took a sip, sighing at the sweet taste of the sugar and creamer.

Jeongguk returned moments later with clean underwear, a tee shirt, sweatpants, and a hoodie. “Get dressed, loser. I’m taking you to the baseball game,” he said throwing your clothes on the bed. You glared at him, narrowing your eyes. Jeongguk laughed again and turned away so you could put your clothes on. You pulled on the sports bra and underwear before sliding off the bed and into your sweats. The shirt he had chosen was your the shirt you had gotten with your university acceptance package.

You rolled your eyes before pulling on your hoodie and taking a look in the mirror. You whistled and told Jeongguk to give you five minutes to make yourself presentable. Jeongguk grabbed the unopened burrito and sat on your bed. “I’ll just eat this,” he said and you pouted before going into the bathroom to wash your face and apply some sunscreen and BB cream. You weren’t focused on grabbing any attention, you just wanted to not look hungover or sick.

After that you pulled your hair up into a messy ponytail and returned to your bed to finish your burrito and hash browns. “Let’s go idiot,” you said to Jeongguk and he rolled out of your bed. The two of you made your way out of your room and down to the lobby. Jeongguk told you about his night after he dropped you off at your dorm. Apparently he had run into an old friend and they ended up hooking up.

“That wasn’t stupid, right? Cause she gives some really good head,” he said as you walked toward the baseball stadium. You rolled your eyes at him. “It’s not stupid, just so long as you are on the same page,” you said. You reached the field in no time and Jeongguk bought your tickets before leading you down toward the dugout. He liked to sit front row at the games since his basketball team always attended the baseball team’s games.

You sat down next to him in literally the front row, looking out at the field over the fence. The two teams were warming up, the visiting team on the other side of the field. You were talking to Jeongguk when you noticed Chan out on the field warming up with Seungcheol. “Hey, (Y/N)!” you heard and looked down to see Soonyoung had just emerged from the dugout with Jihoon. You smiled and waved back at them.

Soonyoung ran over and you scooted forward in your seat to rest your arms on the fence. “What are you doing here?” he asked smiling up at you. “Jeongguk brought me,” you said nodding back at your best friend. Soonyoung greeted Jeongguk with a nod. “So, what position are you?” you asked drawing Soonyoung’s attention. “Shortstop! Jihoon is catcher.”

Jihoon looked up at you, giving you a smile which you returned. “Seokmin,” Soonyoung said looking behind him and pointing to another member on the team, one with reddish curly hair. “He’s our pitcher. Minghao is first baseman,” Soonyoung pointed to tall and slender member with longer black hair and glasses who was practicing with another member with short blonde hair, “and he’s practicing with our second baseman, Junhui.”

Seungcheol is right field, Jeonghan is left field, and Joshua is center field,” Soonyoung added pointing out the three respectively. “Chan is our third baseman. In the dugout we have Wonwoo our relief pitcher, Seungkwan is one of our utility infielders along with Mingyu but he’s out today, and Vernon is our pinch runner.” Soonyoung continued, naming the rest of the team in the dugout.

“Then there’s also our closing pitcher Minhyuk, our LOOGY Changkyun, Hyunwoo is backup catcher, Mark is first baseman relief, Jinyoung is second baseman relief, and Kihyun is third baseman relief. Jooheon takes over for me if I need the break, Hoseok is our pinch hitter, Yugyeom is our Designated hitter for Seokmin, and Jackson is equipment manager. Bambam and Hyungwon are also utility outfielders while Youngjae and Jaebum are utility infielders.”

You nodded slowly and Jeongguk laughed leaning forward. “She has no idea what you just said,” he laughed. Jihoon chuckled and readjusted his hat. “I catch, Seokmin and Wonwoo throw, Minghao, Junhui, and Chan stay on the bases, Joshua, Jeonghan, and Seungcheol catch balls in the outfield, Soonyoung gets to run all over infield, and everyone else subs,” Jihoon explained.

“Yeah, that speaks more my level of baseball knowledge,” you said. Soonyoung laughed, the sound drawing Chan’s attention. He squinted and noticed you before tossing a ball back to Minghao. One of the coaches called Jihoon over and he excused himself. “So, what are you doing tonight?” Soonyoung asked when Jeongguk sat back in his seat.

You shrugged. “I have no idea. I was supposed to have a tutor lesson with Mingyu, but like you said, he’s out today and had to cancel,” you admitted. Soonyoung perked up. “So you have no plans?” he asked and you nodded. “Then, how about this? Whenever we win a game, there’s always a party at the Iota Nu Delta house. If we win today, be my date?” he asked and your cheeks turned pink.

“O-okay,” you said and Soonyoung broke into a huge grin. “Okay, I’ll be on the field all game, so cheer for me, okay?” he asked and you nodded before he took off when the coaches called him over. Chan looked from Soonyoung to you before turning back to his teammates.

The game would be starting soon. You sat back in your seat and looked at Jeongguk. “Did Soonyoung ask you on a date~?” he asked not looking up from his phone and you nodded. “Yeah, I guess he did,” you admitted. Jeongguk gave you a sly smirk and you slapped his shoulder. “Can it, Gguk!” you giggled before you heard someone call your name. You looked back at the field and saw Soonyoung wave at you. Your face turning red, you returned his wave and slid down in your seat.

You missed the way Chan glared at his friend in favor for the start of the game. The announcer came on the intercom and started the beginning of the game. He announced the teams and the players on each team, taking extra care to mention the key players on the home team. When each of their names were announced, the players stepped forward and waved and posed to a torrent of screams and cheers.

After announcing the players, the first pitch was thrown by the home team with Seokmin as starting pitcher. You watched the field as Jeongguk explained the mechanics of the game to you in between plays. The home team, your university’s team, was amazing. The guys were fast, catching hits and throwing them to the bases or back to Jihoon behind the home plate. They didn’t even let the visiting team score. When they were up to bat, you had never seen anything like it.

The fastest members were probably Minghao or Chan. They zoomed around the bases like little bees. They scored left and right, running the bases. Jeongguk explained how every time the teams swapped, the inning changed. Right now he said they were in the bottom of the fourth ending. “Bottom?” you asked and Jeongguk smiled and leaned forward.

“So when an inning starts, it’s called the top of the inning when one team is batting. When three outs are made, the teams switch so the fielding team will be up to bat, which will then be the bottom of the inning. The inning ends when the second batting team gets three outs.” You looked from Jeongguk to the field. “Okay! That makes sense!” you said nodding.

As the game progressed you noticed Chan watching you more and more from third base. You tried to ignore the look he gave you and focus on the game. By the top of the ninth inning, you were totally invested in the game cheering and encouraging the team. They were on the field with two outs. “I’ve never seen you get this much into sports,” Jeongguk laughed and you looked back at him with a wide grin. “I never realized I liked baseball so much!” you admitted. The home team caught the third out and the teams switched, signaling the start of the bottom of the ninth inning.

First up to bat was Changkyun. He was one of the only left handed batters on the team and also being the left handed pitcher. He hit the ball toward the bases and took off for first, making it before the opposing team even scooped the ball up. His teammates erupted into applause while he mocked bowing before taking his stance on the base.

Up next was Hyunwoo. He was a guy you’d seen around campus before usually with his best friends Hoseok and Kihyun. Hyunwoo was a particularly well built guy with broad shoulders, tall and muscular. He filled out his uniform well as he took his stance on home plate, swinging the bat a couple times before he stood ready to swing. The opposing team’s pitcher threw hard but Hyunwoo swung right, his aim true and he hit the ball into the outfield before the players had time to catch up. He made it to first, Changkyun on second.

Next to bat was Yugyeom stepped up to the plate. He was, as Soonyoung said earlier, designated hitter for the pitcher, Seokmin. Yugyeom also hit toward the bases and made it to first, the other two rotating around so each base had a member on it. The coach of the opposing team swapped out the pitcher for a new guy and Jeongguk sat closer to the edge of his seat. “They’re trying to switch it up, catch our guys with a new pitcher. They’re gonna try to get a triple play,” he said resting his arms on the fence.

You turned your attention to the practice section for the next batter and saw it was Jeonghan but the manager ran up to him and said something. Jeonghan looked over at the dugout as another member came out ready to bat. Jeonghan nodded and swapped places with the new guy. “Fuck yes,” Jeongguk exclaimed softly and you looked at him. “The pinch hitter,” he said and you looked back at the guy stepping up to the plate. It was Lee Hoseok. If Hyunwoo was built, then Hoseok was ripped.

They guy adjusted his gloves and tapped the bottom of his shoe with his bat before taking his stance and swinging the bat three times before holding it steady. He smirked at the new pitcher and waited. The first ball thrown was called foul, giving the opposing team one out. The second ball was also foul, giving for another out. You grabbed Jeongguk’s hand and he laughed. “You’re worried for nothing,” he said as the pitcher geared up to throw a third ball. Hoseok swung so fast and hard that all you heard was the crack of the ball making contact with his bat before he dropped it and took off.

Changkyun crossed the plate first, followed by Hyunwoo, then Yugyeom. Cheers erupted from around the stadium and the dugout as the ball crossed over the far barrier and Hoseok brought up the rear laughing as his teammates rushed out to jump on him. “What?” you looked at Jeongguk. “Told you not to worry,” he laughed. You looked over as the team celebrated their victory. You cheered along side the rest of the stadium before Jeongguk finally pulled you out of your seat. “Come on! They’re gonna celebrate with a party later, let’s go so you can get changed,” he said and you followed him and his basketball teammates up the steps.

It took some time to get out of the stadium and into the parking lot where the rest of Jeongguk’s friends piled into cars, you sitting in the front seat of Seokjin’s car. Jeongguk was squashed in the back with Jimin and Taehyung. Seokjin pulled up outside your building and you promised to be quick. You rushed up to your room to change and get ready to go to a house party. You hadn’t been to one in years so you decided to put a little effort into your appearance.

Once satisfied with your look, you headed out to the elevator. You pressed the button taking it down to the lobby. Your phone buzzed in your hand and you opened it to find two messages waiting. One from Soonyoung and the other from Chan.

[2019/10/12] Soonyoung [21:06]: you’re still coming to the party, right? (: You [21:06]: I’m on my way now!

You checked Chan’s text and froze, your heart pounding.

L.Chan [21:05]: So there’s a party at the Iota Nu Delta house, if you wanted to come. Hopefully I’ll see you there? You [21:08]: yeah, i’m heading there now actually. Soonyoung invited me L.Chan [21:08]: oh. cool. See you soon

Soonyoung had sent you another text and you opened it.

Soonyoung [21:08]: you are going to dance with me, aren’t you? ;) You [21:09]: we’ll see haha

You made it back out to the car and got in the front seat again. “Ah! We’re ready!” Seokjin announced before starting the car. He pulled out of your building’s parking lot and turned right, driving through the campus as he made his way toward the Iota Nu Delta house. Seokjin parked on the street behind Yoongi’s car and you followed the guys up the lawn toward the front door.

Upon entering, you saw that the party was fully underway and you grabbed Jeongguk’s arm. “Please don’t leave me alone!” you whispered at him and he nodded, following Taehyung and Jimin further into the house. Once entering the kitchen at the back of the house, you found a large group gathered around a pong table. Jeongguk led you past the group to get drinks and a familiar face caught your eye.

Soonyoung smiled at you from the crowd before pushing his way through to reach you. “Hey!” he said breathlessly as Jeongguk poured some soda into a cup and handed you a slice of pizza from one of the many boxes on the counter. “Eat, then drink!” he said and the nodded at Soonyoung.

You took the slice and bit off a piece. Jeongguk handed you the cup with soda in it. “Drink that. Pizza and soda before you get alcohol!” You rolled your eyes and turned to Soonyoung who reached across the island to grab a slice of pizza.

Jeongguk smiled at a girl who passed him before turning to Jimin and Taehyung. He said something to them and then leaned toward you. “I gotta go do something, stay with Jimin and Taehyung. They’ll keep an eye on you. Well, Taehyung will,” he said and you nodded before he took off, handing a drink he made for you to Tae and pointed at you. Taehyung took his spot at the counter, standing behind you and keeping his eye on the crowd. He turned to Jimin to say something, nodding at the crowd.

“So, you going to come dance with me at least once?” Soonyoung asked as you finished your slice of pizza and downed the rest of your soda. You took the cup Taehyung held and took a sip. “Maybe, you gonna convince me?” you asked. Soonyoung laughed and bit his bottom lip.

“I can always try,” he said with a wink. Your stomach did little flips but it wasn’t Soonyoung’s words. Instead it was Chan appearing in your line of vision. You turned to Taehyung. “I’m gonna go dance with Soonyoung,” you said over the loud music. Taehyung nodded and told you he would be right there when you got back.

You turned to Soonyoung, taking another gulp of your drink before handing it to Taehyung. Soonyoung took your hand and led you out of the kitchen and into the living area of the downstairs, right past Chan. You tried to ignore the way his eyes followed you as you passed him with his best friend. Or the way his jaw clenched as Soonyoung immediately pulled you into him, his hand on the small of your back. You moved your hips against Soonyoung’s to the beat of the music, not really caring about the people around you.

Soonyoung lowered his head, whispering in your ear, “I feel like the luckiest guy in the room.” You smiled, pink tinting your cheeks before you responded. “Why is that?” you asked. “Look at you. You’re stunning. I kind of regret not asking you out a lot sooner,” he whispered in your ear, his breath tickling your neck. You giggled, pressing a hand to his chest.

“Really? Well, what about now? Are you going to ask me out?” you asked and Soonyoung smiled against your cheek. “Didn’t I already, asking you to be my date tonight?” You sighed when his lips pressed softly against your cheek. “I’m not going to lie, (Y/N). You know that’s not really my style. But I’ve actually wanted to ask you out ever since I ran into you the other day.” His hands held your hips in place while he spoke.

“You have?” you asked breathlessly and Soonyoung smiled, nodding his head. “I have. I’ve just been too shy until now,” he muttered and you let out another sigh when his lips met your jawline. He would have continued had Jeongguk not interrupted. “Sorry, Soonyoung, I need to steal (Y/N) for a second,” he said over the music and grabbed you by the wrist, pulling you from Soonyoung’s grasp.

Jeongguk led you to the kitchen and towered over you. “I told you to stay with Taehyung!” he said and you groaned. “Gguk!! I like Soonyoung! He’s a really nice guy! And you heard him ask me out earlier!” you said exasperatedly. He was essentially cockblocking you. He shook his head. “I don’t like it. Something is off,” he said and you groaned. “What about Chan?” he asked and you shrugged. “What about him?” you asked. Jeongguk looked around before leaning in.

“Are you forgetting about last night?” You rolled your eyes. “That happened because we were both horny and intoxicated. It was nothing,” you said shrugging. Jeongguk eyed you suspiciously. “Does he feel the same way?” he asked and you nodded. You were sure that Chan felt that it meant nothing to him, too.

“I’m not so sure,” Jeongguk said and you shook your head. “It’s fine, Gguk!” you repeated. You waved him off and went back to Soonyoung who was waiting in the same spot as before. Once you were back in earshot, he asked, “what was that about?” You shook your head. “Just my best friend being cautious and protective as usual!” you said in his ear as his hands rested on your hips.

Soonyoung pulled you in closer as the song changed to something slower and more sensual. It wasn’t until you felt someone bump into you that you stopped moving to look around. Chan was making his way up the stairs, his eyes locking with yours when you looked up. He was leading a random girl up the steps. Your heart leapt in your throat and you turned your attention away from him.

You felt Soonyoung’s lips against your cheek before he whispered in your ear, “something wrong?” You shook your head and allowed him to direct your hips again. “No. Nothing,” you said. You felt him smile against your skin before his lips trailed down to your neck.

A tiny gasp left your lips, eyes snapping open when you realized you were still in the living room, surrounded by a ton of your peers. You pulled back slightly and Soonyoung gave you a quizzical look before he looked around and understood.

He nodded his head, jerking it up toward the upper floor and you nodded, biting your bottom lip. Soonyoung took your hand and pulled you toward the base of the stairs and began leading you up, passing people who were standing there watching the crowd. Upstairs in the hallway, Soonyoung led you through the people waiting for the bathroom and those who hadn’t made it to a bedroom yet and were making out against the wall.

Soonyoung grabbed the handle of a door near the end of the hall and turned it. The unlocked door opened and inside a half naked girl with wavy short brown hair was straddling- “Oh shit! Sorry Chan!” Soonyoung laughed. Upon hearing his name, Chan looked up at the door and saw you standing there with his best friend, your hand in his.

You turned and stepped out of the room while Soonyoung backed out and shut the door before taking your hand again and leading you to another room which was thankfully empty. Soonyoung shut and locked the door behind him before pulling you into him, a smile on his face.

“Alone at last, he whispered, his free hand cupping your cheek before his lips brushed against yours, testing the waters before taking the plunge and pressing them against yours. You felt dizzy, like his kiss took your breath away. The hand that wasn’t cupping your cheek snaked around your waist, pulling you in closer. Your hands felt like putty against Soonyoung’s chest.

Without breaking the kiss, he walked you backwards until your legs hit something soft. A bed. Your heart began racing and your stomach twisted with what you assumed were nerves. Soonyoung broke the kiss and pulled away before studying your face, a lopsided grin on his face. “God you’re gorgeous,” he said brushing a few stray strands of hair out of your face. Pink tinted your cheeks and you looked down.

“If I’m moving too fast, tell me,” he said and put his finger under your chin, lifting your head so your eyes met his. “I don’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable,” he said and you nodded. He sat you down on the bed and as you scooted back toward the center, climbed on, hovering over you before dipping down to kiss you again. His lips parted yours, allowing his tongue to slip between.

One hand was on your hip while he used his elbow to keep from weighing down on you. A soft whimper left your lips when he pressed his hips against yours, pressing his erection into your core. “Ah, that was cute,” he whispered against your lips and repeated the action, earning a deeper moan from you. You felt him smile. Soonyoung moved from your lips to your neck, kissing down to the collar of your shirt before nipping at the skin. You moaned, arching into him.

He sat back up, kneeling between your thighs before pulling his sweater off over his head, leaving him in a white tee shirt. Soonyoung leaned back down, kissing you with more vigor, his hands roaming until they found the buttons of your blouse. He undid the first two buttons, lips leaving yours again to press against your now exposed collarbone. His hand continued to make quick work of your shirt.

He pushed the fabric aside before sitting up to admire your black lace bra. His fingers skimmed over the material before he smiled up at you. He laid between your thighs, leaving kisses along your collar and down your chest, passing between your breasts as he moved lower and lower until he reached the waistband of your jeans. He slowly undid the button and zipper before pulling them down your thighs and discarding them.

Your heart was hammering in your chest, your breathing ragged and your head spinning still. Soonyoung placed soft, wet kisses along the inside of your thigh before your stomach twisted again and this time you knew it wasn’t nerves. It was nausea.

“Stop,” you said hoarsely. At first, Soonyoung didn’t hear you so you cleared your throat and repeated yourself. Soonyoung sat up quickly, looking at you as you sat up and began buttoning your shirt. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked and you shook your head.

“No, I just feel nauseous,” you said in a low grumble. Your head was pounding. Soonyoung hopped up and retrieved your pants, helping you into them before kneeling by the bed and putting your shoes on for you. He helped you stand up, grabbing his sweater and pulling you toward the door.

He led you back down the stairs and into the kitchen where Jeongguk, Taehyung and Jimin stood. Taehyung noticed you first and nodded. Jeongguk spun around and immediately rushed to your side before rounding on Soonyoung. “What happened?” he demanded. “She said she feels nauseous so I brought her to you. She needs to go home and sleep this off,” he said. Jeongguk eyed him suspiciously.

“You didn’t do anything to her, did you?” he asked and Soonyoung shook his head. “Absolutely not. We were upstairs making out and then she said she wasn’t feeling well,” he said and Jeongguk relaxed as he took you from Soonyoung, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“Thanks, we’ll take it from here,” he said. Soonyoung nodded before looked back at you. “Text me when you wake up, okay?” he asked and you nodded, getting wobblier by the minute. “I’ll text you when we get her back to her dorm,” Jeongguk promised and Soonyoung thanked him.

Jeongguk led you out onto the deck out back where you were met with the cold night air. “Seokjin!” Jeongguk called and his friend turned to look at him. “We need to take her home. She doesn’t feel good,” he said and Seokjin turned to say goodnight to his conversation partner. He led the way out of the house and to the car where Taehyung and Jeongguk helped you into the car.

Seokjin pulled out and took the familiar route back to your dorm building. “Did she take a drink from anyone?” Seokjin asked and Jeongguk shook his head. “Not that I saw, and I trust Soonyoung didn’t give her anything,” he said. “Maybe she just drank too much too fast?” Jimin asked from the front passenger seat. “Yeah, maybe,” Jeongguk said.

They reached your dorm with ease. It took Jeongguk and Taehyung to get you out of the car and up to your room. Jeongguk sent Taehyung out while he attended to you. “Do you need to throw up?” he asked and you shook your head. “I think being out of that house helped a lot,” you admitted. “I feel much better now,” you added. Jeongguk sat next to you on the bed and rubbed your back.

“Did Soonyoung do anything?” he asked and you shook your head. “No, he was a gentleman.” Jeongguk nodded, watching you sober up a little. “Well, do you need me to stay here?” he asked and you smiled. “I’ll be okay,” you admitted. “But go ahead and send up Jimin. I could use his cuddles,” you joked and Jeongguk scoffed. “I’m offended you think his cuddles are better than mine,” he said, pretending to be hurt. You giggled and leaned into him. “I’ll be fine, Gguk. Thank you.”

Jeongguk got to his feet and made his way to your door. “Anytime, (Y/N),” he said with a smile and left. You felt your phone buzz in your pocket and you pulled it out. It was from Soonyoung.

[2019/10/12] Soonyoung [23:05]: you make it home, alright? You [23:05]: yeah. Sorry i ran out like that :/ Soonyoung [23:06]: don’t be sorry! I’m just glad you’re home safe! Don’t worry about me. I would rather you be okay. We can always go get a cup of coffee some time. My treat of course (: You [23:07]: i would like that (: Soonyoung [23:07]: then it’s a date ;)

Another text came in while you were texting Soonyoung. You opened it to see it was from Chan.

[2019/10/12] L.Chan [23:08]: hope you have fun. You [23:08]: you too.

You weren’t sure when you fell asleep but you woke up to your alarm blaring at 8:45 am. You groggily pulled yourself out of bed, your head swimming before stripping and getting into the shower. After cleaning yourself up, you got dressed and headed out with your bag for Chan’s lesson.

Upon reaching the student center, you were greeted with a sign that informed you the center was closed for maintenance. You groaned, fishing your phone out of your bag to shoot Chan a text.

[2019/10/13] You [09:19]: the student center is closed so no lesson today. See you on Wednesday.

After sending the text you head back to your dorm, determined to go back to bed and get an extra hour to sleep off your pounding headache. You had just walked in your door when your phone buzzed and you checked it. Jeongguk had texted you.

[2019/10/13] Kookie [09:47]: good morning my little croissant~! How did you sleep?? You [09:47]: ugghhhhh i got up to go to Chan’s lesson and the student center is closed. Now i’m back in my room and i’m going back to bed. My head hurts 😫 Kookie [09:48]: Soonyoung texted me last night to make sure you got home safe. Please date him. He seems like a hella nice guy and actually seems to care about you. You [09:48]: we’ll see. For now, sleep~ 😴

You kicked off your shoes and got into your bed, pulling the covers over your head and shutting your eyes. A vibration made you open them to check your phone.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [09:50]: morning, beautiful. You’re probably still sleeping but I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were feeling okay. Text me later~

You smiled and set your phone aside, more determined than ever to get some sleep. It came to you quickly and you slipped into slumber, awakening hours later to a setting sun. It was nearly 5 pm. You sat up and stretched. Your head felt much better but you were really thirsty now.

You got up from your bed and opened your mini fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and chugging half of it before searching for your phone in the recesses of your blankets. Your fingers brushed the smooth screen of the device and your grabbed it before bringing it up to look at it.

You had two missed calls and several missed texts.

[2019/10/13] Kookie [10:08]: i know you said you were going to sleep but can you wake up? I’m bored 😞 Kookie [11:36]: pls? Jimin and Taehyung are still sleeping too ): Kookie [13:27]: ugh this sucks. I wanna talk~ Kookie [14:03]: Soonyoung asked me if you were okay. I told him the truth that you were hibernating because you’re a fucking bear, not a human girl. Kookie [16:32]: wake up grizzly 🐻

You shook your head, taking another sip of water before opening the next set of messages.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [11:09]: are you awake yet? Soonyoung [12:01]: you really sleep a long time, don’t you? Soonyoung [13:42]: i was hoping we could get coffee today but you must still be sleeping ☹ Soonyoung [14:06]: i texted Jeongguk. I just wanted to make sure you were okay Soonyoung [14:09]: he says you channel your inner grizzly and hibernate on the weekends 🐻🐻 Soonyoung [14:12]: ngl that’s really cute :3 Soonyoung [15:35]: I’m not gonna keep blowing up your phone so just message me when you wake up

[2019/10/13] L.Chan [13:05]: Sorry i didn’t answer earlier. I had a LONG night lol

You answered Jeongguk’s text first.

You [16:54]: grizzly 🐻 is awake. Winter is over ❄☃️

You sent Soonyoung a reply next.

You [16:55]: yeah haha i sleep a lot. It’s a bad habit and the reason why i usually miss things ):

Finally you answered Chan.

You [16:56]: Don’t worry about it.👍🏻

The first to respond was surprisingly Chan.

[2019/10/13] L.Chan [16:58]: i was up pretty late lol You [16:59]: ...okay L.Chan [16:59]: Did you have a good night? You [17:00]: it was good. L.Chan [17:00]: ...just good? Mine was great. I wonder why you didn’t have as good of a night? You [17:01]: … 😒 L.Chan [17:02]: well, I mean, did you see Mina? I think it’s pretty obvious why I had such a great night lol

You scoffed and tossed your phone as another text from him came in but you ignored it. When your phone buzzed again, you checked it. Soonyoung had replied. You opened his messages quickly.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [17:05]: THERE you are! I was getting worried ☺ You [17:06]: yeah haha here i am Soonyoung [17:07]: awwww you should have let me come over Soonyoung [17:07]: We could have napped together :3 You [17:07]: that actually sounds wonderful. Raincheck?

While you waited for Soonyoung to answer, you checked Jeongguk’s text that came in.

[2019/10/13] Kookie [17:01]: well goddamn it’s about time! You [17:08]: yeah, yeah I know. Grizzly 🐻 and all that 🙄 Kookie [17:09]: more importantly how are you feeling? You [17:09]: much better than last night Kookie [17:10]: good but go back to sleep now. Get plenty of rest for tomorrow (:

You returned to Soonyoung’s text, ignoring the other text that came in from Chan.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [17:09]: of course! (: maybe next week? You [17:11]: that sounds perfect (: Soonyoung [17:12]: your place or mine? ;) You [17:12]: we can iron out the details later (: Soonyoung [17:13]: sounds good to me (: look I gotta run. I have some errands to do, I’ll text you later (: You [17:13]: okay! Have fun and be safe~! Soonyoung [17:14]:

Soonyoung [17:14]: ugh 😫 how are you so sweet? You [17:15]: 😚

After sending Soonyoung a text, you decided to open Chan’s messages as he kept sending them.

[2019/10/13] L.Chan [17:03]: she’s got these killer legs. I’m sure you saw L.Chan [17:03]: and her lips? God she could kill a man L.Chan [17:04]: she almost killed me 🍆👀 L.Chan [17:04]: she could make a guy fall in love 😍 L.Chan [17:05]: she knows exactly how to drive a guy crazy L.Chan [17:05]: and she’s such a tease lol L.Chan [17:07]: i’m meeting her again tonight. L.Chan [17:09]: should i bring her back to my room? L.Chan [17:11]: I think I will 😏 L.Chan [17:14]: what are you up to tonight? L.Chan [17:14]: staying in i bet? L.Chan [17:14]: why not invite Soonyoung over?? 😜 L.Chan [17:15]: I’m sure he’d love to see you again.

You turned his notifications off as your blood ran cold. Something about his wording wasn’t right. Like he was trying to make you jealous. What is his deal anyway??

P.S: WOOOOOW That was long. This is only part one!! If I had left this one piece, it would have been a behemoth. I’m really glad I split it up. I hope you guys enjoyed this! Leave any comments, keyboard smashes, or send me some asks or messages! I love talking to you guys (: Thank you so much for reading! ~K♡

2K notes · View notes

gffa · 5 years

Text

Every single time I do this, I keep thinking, “I’ll just add one or two more to the list, because they’re so good and that’ll be it, surely fandom won’t post anything else that I need to immediately read and yell about my feelings over!” And then every single time I’m wrong about that and STAR WARS fandom puts out more fic or, I don’t know, creates and Obi-Ken genfic exchange and I suddenly have a whole new pile of fic to read and crying about it. It’s the best worst problem to have because there are some absolutely stellarfics here and so many talented people and I need to yell a lot and shove them allat everyone who will listen! STAR WARS FIC RECS: TIME TRAVEL RECS: ✦ The Unreliability of Chronology by Felilla, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & rex & cast, time travel, 7.5k wip No. His Padawan died on Mortis six months ago and he was left without even a body to mourn. This was a trick. She hadn’t returned to him and she most definitely was not a decade older. ✦ Blades of Grass by zarabithia, obi-wan & shmi, time travel, ~1k Shmi is not yet five years old when the strange man falls out of the sky. ✦ A Future in Crisis by WolfMarauder, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & cast, time travel, 45.3k wip Ahsoka has a vision that may change the course of the future. She just needs to keep her master from falling, keep his wife from dying, and the Jedi Order from dying out… That’s all. The first step is returning the the Jedi Order and she finds she has more friends than she thought. ✦ Warmth by Tomatosoupful, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & xanatos & tahl & shmi & cast, child endangerment, time travel, 59.8k wip Time Travel AU. Anakin has woken up in the past. Time to say hello to past friends, right? Only problem, Anakin is a walking talking human disaster and makes a lot of stupid decisions. Stealing a Jedi baby from the temple certainly isn’t the smartest thing he’s done. PREQUELS RECS: ✦ Trust by SingManyFaces, anakin & ahsoka, 1.2k Three moments when Ahsoka recognized Anakin in the Force. ✦ Room Arrangements by skatzaa, obi-wan & anakin, 2.2k Anakin has some concerns about room arrangements at the Temple. Obi-Wan does his best to reassure him. ✦ When Darkness Seems to Hide This Place by IllyanaA, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & kanan & ocs & cast, 94.9k wip After killing three of the Jedi Order’s best and brightest, Palpatine’s fight with Jedi Master Mace Windu goes shorter than expected. Afraid he’s lost his chance at recruiting a new apprentice, Sidious unleashes Order 66 across the galaxy, but, per their programming, the Clone Army is not to harm Anakin Skywalker. After witnessing the most painful loss he’s ever experienced and injured at the hands of his captors, Anakin is ready to die like the rest of the Jedi, though not before getting his vengeance. ✦ Waiting and Learning by otherhawk, obi-wan & ahsoka & cody & waxer & boil & cast, 2.9k During a brief period of time when Ahsoka Tano is working with the 212th under Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka takes part in a mission to obtain separatist codes. Unfortunately the mission involves a lot of downtime without much entertainment as they wait for an ambush. Along the way Ahsoka gets to know her grandmaster better and makes some new friends. ✦ Out of the Desert Storm by LazarusII, obi-wan & owen & luke & beru, 2.1k One day, a harsh desert storm suddenly kicks up, stranding Owen Lars and a young Luke Skywalker in the Jundland Wastes. Obi-Wan saves the day, takes them back to his home, and a friendship begins. ✦ And the Void Answered Back by Ghost_Owl, obi-wan & anakin & rey & finn & poe & ben & yoda & maz & han & cast, force ghosts, 110.6k (Follows the Force ghosts of Anakin, Obi Wan, and friends getting dragged kicking and screaming through the events of The Force Awakens) ✦ you’re safe within by stonefreeak, obi-wan & anakin, ~1k Anakin wakes from nightmares tinted red. The darkness of his bedroom seems oppressive, and no matter how many times he blinks red seems to seep into the edges of his vision. He wants to feel safe. He wants Obi-Wan. ✦ Imperfect Resolution by Nny11, ahsoka/barriss, 11k When Ahsoka Tano heard there was a possible Jedi living in the Outer Rim she could recruit, she didn’t expect to find Barriss Offee. She didn’t expect her stupid heart to bleed over this. It’s so much easier to forgive someone when you thought they were dead. ✦ The Spire by skatzaa, obi-wan & ocs, 2.4k The galaxy was on the brink of war, and Obi-Wan Kenobi had been assigned a new room. ✦ We Push Away the Unimaginable by KeeperofSeeds, obi-wan & padme, 5.2k RotS AU: Padme survives. Weak from her injuries on Mustafar and healing after giving birth, she and the twins are taken into hiding by Obi Wan. Now they are on the run from the Empire and dealing with each other’s trauma, as they try to figure out what to do after your world falls apart. ✦ Swimming Lessons by devilinthedetails, obi-wan & anakin, 2.1k Obi-Wan decides Anakin must learn how to swim. ✦ In Pursuit by zinjadu, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & rex & padme & adi & cast, 40k AU - The Jedi Who Knew Too Much. Rex decides to stay “in pursuit” of his Commander; he jumps. Now, with backup, Ahsoka navigates the lower levels and deals with Ventress. Meanwhile, Anakin takes the Order to task, finds a little more support, and things turn out a little differently for everyone. ✦ Of Progress and Promises by Pandora151, obi-wan & anakin & bant & yoda & cast, 6.2k Not long after joining the Jedi Order, Anakin Skywalker teams up with some of his Master’s friends for a very important mission: to get Obi-Wan Kenobi to smile and laugh again. ✦ Accidental Baby Acquisition: The Obi-Wan Kenobi Way by kitkatkaylie, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & cast, 9.9k wip Obi-Wan Kenobi was just browsing the market, he has no idea how the baby ended up in his robe, honest. ✦ The Bad Day (Trademark Pending) by skatzaa, obi-wan & anakin & bant, 2k Obi-Wan is having one of his Bad Days. Anakin helps. ✦ Old Sins Cast Long Shadows by zarabithia, ahsoka & obi-wan/padme & anakin & cast, 16.6k In this universe, when Palpatine asks if Anakin is going to kill him, Anakin does. While Anakin ultimately wins, it costs him his life. In this universe, the twins are raised by Ahsoka, Padmé, and Obi-Wan. ✦ Voices in the Dark by otherhawk, obi-wan & cody, 6.9k wip In the middle of the war Obi-Wan and Cody find themselves stranded behind enemy lines, deep in the old tunnels of a hostile world. Injured, alone and in complete darkness they have to rely on each other’s skill and strength. Fortunately there’s plenty to go around. ✦ Abducted by devilinthedetails, obi-wan & qui-gon, 1.6k In trying to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a planetary leader, Qui-Gon finds himself abducted and in need of Obi-Wan’s rescue. ✦ Wellspring by skatzaa, obi-wan & shmi, 1.9k Ben meditates, and meets a ghost. She’s just not the ghost he’s been expecting. ✦ Farewell There by DestielsDestiny, obi-wan & mace & cast, 1.4k It was a routine mission. In so much as anything was routine since the war began. Which was to say, it was a disaster from the word go. ✦ A Burning Why by Icarus_is_flying, jocasta & anakin, 1.1k Jocasta Nu understood many things–all valuable, obscure, interesting, well-known, and useless in turn–knowledge earned over decades. Some questions were easy to answer. Others take generations to decipher. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, anakin & ahsoka & mace & rig & vokara, 1k Anakin Skywalker walks through the halls of the Jedi Temple, his padawan by his side. ✦ playing yourself like a red three by EclipseMidnight (EternalEclipse), obi-wan & xanatos & qui-gon, 7.7k As usual, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s mission has gone spectacularly sideways, this time before they even reach the planet they are meant to be helping. Luckily for them, they get some help from an unexpected source. ✦ Obitine Week 2019 by sunshineisdelicious, obi-wan/satine & anakin & ahsoka & qui-gon & korkie, 12.6k A little celebration of Obi-Wan and Satine. ✦ I Know: Or, How Ahsoka Tano Saved the Skywalkers by SianShanya, obi-wan & anakin/padme & ahsoka & cast, 12.5k In a galaxy where Ahsoka learns of her master’s marriage before leaving(because come on, Anakin is the least subtle person ever), Evil Plans are thwarted left and right. ✦ Rebirth by Emmeebee, obi-wan & padme & cast, 12.3k Padmé has never been one to run from danger, but it’s different when it’s her children at stake. A rewrite of the ending of Revenge of the Sith. ✦ Flash Flash Fashion Baby by Nny11, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & cast, ~1k Anakin wears a crop top to show solidarity with his Padawan’s fashion choices and because Padme wears one. He didn’t mean to start a galaxy wide trend! ✦ Aliit ori'shya tal'din by TexasDreamer01, obi-wan & anakin & cody & waxer & boil & ahsoka & cast, 5.3k Reconnaissance missions are never easy. On a far-flung planet in the Outer Rim, Obi-Wan thinks, is not much better. His troops and friends, however, can make his work downright pleasant. ✦ Perpetual Parents & Padawans by BigFatBumblebee, obi-wan & anakin & mace & yoda & cast, 2.4k As is the case with all children, Jedi Padawans grow up. And as with all parents, Jedi Masters occasionally find this a rather difficult concept to get to grips with, and no matter how old, Padawan’s need their Masters. ✦ Force Ex Machina by BookGirlFan, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & ahsoka, 4.3k Qui-Gon appears in the middle of the Clone Wars, and Anakin discovers some uncomfortable truths about his master’s past. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, jocasta & yoda & cast, 1.1k Jocasta Nu has been the Head Librarian of the Jedi Temple for many years now. There is no one who knows the Temple library and its different ways of searching for information better than she does. ✦ Escapade by Shadaras, obi-wan & anakin, 1.3k Obi-Wan helps Anakin rescue himself from hawk-bats beneath the Jedi Temple. OBI-WAN/ANAKIN RECS: ✦ untitled by imperialvader, obi-wan/anakin, 1k Kenobi and Skywalker. Anakin and Obi-Wan. They’re a team. They’re the team. And they happen in every universe. ✦ This time we’ll fall together by liv_k, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme & yoda & bail & cast, 13.5k wip In the aftermath of Order 66, Anakin Skywalker’s miraculous survival after his confrontation with the new Sith Apprentice Darth Vader ignites a sparkle of hope in the remaining Jedi, in the fledgling rebellion and, above all, in his former Master, who had thought he had lost everything to darkness. But darkness is generous, and it is patient. ✦ The Missing Part by Nightstar269, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & palpatine, NSFW, modern au (of sorts), suicide ideation, switching in the final chapter, 151.1k Anakin Skywalker, a student of mechanical engineering, has always felt that his life was lacking something, a feeling that was made much worse with the deaths of his mother first, and of the woman he loved some time later. Still haunted by the pain and heartbreak, he tries to go on with his life as well as he can. When an initiative of the director of the university has the students attending the classes of another degree so as to enrich their knowledge, he will meet someone that will turn his world upside down. ✦ Upfall by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & satine(/obi-wan background) & padme & cast, NSFW, 41.5k wip Anakin is doing just about everything he can to hold himself together; it won’t last. ✦ The Devil’s Own by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & cast, regency au, 16.2k wip Some whisper the Skywalker family is the devil’s own, and no tutors in the area will take on the orphaned Lord, a young man famous for his excessive drinking, riding, and dueling. The townspeople shake their heads at the arrival of the latest tutor, a London scholar out of money and other options, wondering how long it will be before this Kenobi is run out like all the rest. ✦ Mutual Acquaintances by Ghost_Owl, obi-wan/anakin & obi-wan/satine & anakin/padme & padme/satine & cast, 11k wip In which Satine’s distress call puts Obi Wan under Council scrutiny, Anakin offers to save her for him as a Totally Platonic Favor, Satine would like one good day, please, Padmé has everything under control, and Maul manages to cause an even bigger problem than before. ✦ The Garden by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & rex & cody, a/b/o, 4.8k wip Nothing is ever simple with Anakin Skywalker. ✦ Tell Me Yes by SingManyFaces, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, mild d/s, 2.7k Anakin gets too worked up, Obi-Wan talks him down. ✦ Montreschere by Ralph_E_Silvering, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & dooku & cast, 9.4k wip Reckless, brilliant Anakin Skywalker is being hailed as the greatest swordsman of his age. In a city where the nobles hire swordsmen in their never-ending political games against one another, Anakin is always assured of a job and is beholden to no one and nothing except the sword. Until the day he meets the handsome, reclusive Duke of Montreschere, whose idealism threatens the very foundations of the city’s most powerful players, and Anakin learns the true meaning of living, and dying, by the sword. ✦ Beard by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin, ~1k It’s the beard, Anakin thinks sometimes. But he knows better; the beard is just a symbol, a visual shortcut for something far more complex. ✦ For Everything by Diminution, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, modern au, 10.8k wip In which Obi-Wan owns a coffee shop and Anakin stumbles in early one morning after an especially terrible nightmare. ✦ not too particular, not too precise by AozoraNoShita, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & padme, modern au, 4.1k Obi-Wan and Anakin both run food blogs and they have Opinions about each other’s recipes. Then it turns out they live in the same apartment building and they have the same friends and when they finally meet? It’s like a cooking competition meets a rom-com. Kind of. ✦ The Seduction of Anakin Skywalker by DontCallMeShirley, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme & obi-wan/anakin/padme & cast, 16.5k wip Anakin is falling to the dark side. Obi Wan and Padme concoct a scheme to bring him back. ✦ Red Shift by Burning_Nightingale, obi-wan/anakin, nsfw, fem!anakin, 4.2k Obi-Wan and Anakin decide to go undercover as a husband and wife bounty hunting team at a Black Sun casino to try and find crucial information about their ties to the Separatists. But when their host gives them a “gift” of aphrodisiac purri root, they get a little more than they bargained for. ✦ Would you teach me? by blurred_lines, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 3.8k wip Obi-Wan was… well, meditating, probably, but this was most definitely a form of meditation Anakin wasn’t acquainted with. Like, not at all. ✦ So I Love You Because I Know No Other Way by DontCallMeShirley, obi-wan/anakin, 3.3k Anakin and Obi Wan just need a little push to admit their feelings. ORIGINAL TRILOGY RECS: ✦ Binary by skatzaa, obi-wan & r2-d2, ~1k Old Ben has a talk with a familiar astromech. ✦ Challenge or Manipulation by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & luke & yoda, 1.3k Before going to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, Luke Skywalker visits the abandoned home of Ben Kenobi in the Jundland Wastes. ✦ a crown upon my head by skatzaa, leia & poe & rey, 1.7k Poe finds her the morning after they escape from Crait at the dejarik table, though it she isn’t hard to find, with the Falcon as full as it is. ✦ Wizard by ASadHermitStory, obi-wan & owen & beru, ~1k Owen worries that Obi-Wan is lurking too close to the farm and will attract unwanted attention to them. With Beru’s help, he proposes a solution. ✦ Inviolable by glorious_clio, leia & deara & bail/breha, 4.1k Deara has a new niece to love and spoil, and teach how to smash things with hammers. Meanwhile, the Galaxy has gone to hell. REBELS RECS: ✦ The Starry Crown by bedlamsbard, ezra & kanan & sabine & zeb & chopper & cast, 17.4k wip Months after Ezra Bridger vanished into the depths of the mysterious Jedi temple on Lothal, he reappears – with Kanan Jarrus in tow. All Hera Syndulla and the other surviving members of the Ghost crew want is to retrieve their missing teammates, but a Jedi who can raise the dead is a prize too great for the Empire to pass up. Palpatine will do anything to get Ezra and the secrets he carries – secrets that may allow the Emperor to control reality itself. FULL DETAILS + RECS HERE!

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #ahsoka tano #obikin #fic recs #star wars fic recs

286 notes · View notes

jclie · 4 years

Text

— && guests may mistake me as ( elizabeth olsen ), but really i am ( jolie madison + cis female + she/her ) and my DOB is ( 7/29/1992 ). i am a ( musician ) and would like to stay in suite ( 314 ). i won’t be much of a bother because i am ( driven, audacious, & charismatic ), but i can also be ( perfectionistic, reticent & self-sabotaging ) at times. personally, i like to ( paint, hike, try new recipes & sing karaoke ) when i have the time to relax, and my favorite snack is ( chai sugar cookies ) to have in my suite.

hi everyone! i’m red, and the only excuse i have for this dropping so late is that Work Sucks and has held me up, but i am here and ready to love u all! rlly, what better to do with the remaining bits of summer ( and being awake, tbh ) than join this super cute group and put my intro post together? so yes, here is the 411 on jolie, with a more *~cohesive~* bio and stats page on their way — i am so excited to get to know all of your muses and begin interacting! i promise i do not bite so if you’re feeling brave, pop over in the ims, or, just wait me out, because i’m sure i’ll be appearing in them soon enough :~)

general info

full name: jolie drew madison

nicknames: j, jo, jojo (calling her this is a bit of a death sentence unless you have explicit permission), mads

date of birth: july twenty-ninth, 1992 (27)

zodiac: leo

sexual orientation: bisexual

birthplace: chicago, illinois

occupation: musician

hogwarts house: slytherin

mbti: enfj

suite #: 314

tw: drug use

past

born on a wednesday in chicago, illinois to a set of parents who had a very “informal” relationship to say the least — to make a complicated situation as cut and dry as possible, jolie’s parents were best friends with benefits. her mom wound up pregnant and decided to keep the baby. instead of jumping to some rash decision like getting married solely for the sake of their child, they decided to simply remain friends and split custody in the best way they knew how that didn’t require a mediator in the form of a family court judge. her parents remained close friends (and still are) once jolie was born; custody was weirdly split with jolie spending the majority of her time with her mom. they were an unconventional sort of family but a family nonetheless. dad does something with numbers (yes, think chandler bing), and mom is a local business owner.

as a kid, jolie never knew a stranger, and therefore had no trouble making friends once she hit school age. she was the kid who never found her niche group or “clique” because her feet were wet in several of them. school was not a miserable time for her. she had her friends, was a solid a/b student. jolie was a big perfectionist though, it not uncommon for her to beat herself up over something incredibly minute and self-sabotaging herself as punishment or because she didn’t know how to adequately process her feelings of anxiousness — she’d procrastinate, cut people off or drive them away, things of that nature.

music was always in her life, but it was a very casual thing in her world, situated on a backburner. it was something that she was able to bond over with her dad more so than her mom; her dad was a massive music junkie, loved sharing his favorite songs with her, bought her her first vinyl player when she was twelve and supplied her with every album under the sun, whether it was one she wanted or one of his favorites or just one he thought she might enjoy. she was in dance classes as a preschooler (this was an epic fail, because not even her rhythm could save her from the generally awkward disaster she is whenever she dances) and took piano lessons in elementary school, but she didn’t love either? she felt very restricted when it came to formal lessons, and almost needed the freedom to explore and learn it on her own terms — she ended up teaching herself guitar on her dad’s guitar on the weekends she spent at his place. there was also the 6 month stint her junior year of high school when she and some friends started a garage band (which jolie represses to a certain degree because the embarrassment it invokes is on another level) but it was mostly just an idea formulated from boredom and was something to pass the time, nothing really serious.

jolie found herself at a bit of a crossroads after her graduation. most of her friends were off to college but college did not seem like the kind of environment for her. she didn’t know what she wanted to do with herself or her life, but she knew she had to do something. so she pretty much copied and pasted what one of her close friends was doing at the time, decided to go to northwestern and share an apartment with her and pray that something would speak to her along the way. spoiler alert: nothing did. her first year quickly fizzled and faded for her and most of her time was spent going to parties, embracing the social scene, the like. nothing of real educational value.

she was still fucking around when it came to music; she’d met some people in one of her creative writing classes (the only class that she legitimately finished and enjoyed) and would go to open mic nights or other gigs around town. never meeting a stranger meant jolie was good at networking, making friends with other musicians — the more she spent time immersed in the world, the more she felt compelled towards music. she began writing songs that weren’t just the product of teenage angst (see: that awful high school band), even took a few music classes at northwestern.

by the time she hit her junior year, she was over classes and was pretty much only taking filler classes still, wasting her money while she bar tended at one of the bars close by. but she’d never felt more creatively charged; she was putting her nose to the grindstone in writing songs, recording songs in her bedroom so she wouldn’t wake up her roommates, playing gigs on her nights off work literally anywhere that would take her, and using those new-er friendships to her advantage. she had gained some local traction but things really didn’t explode until she started posting original songs online and got contacted by a few record labels. jolie was hesitant to sign with anyone but she got one of her friends in pre-law to help her look over contracts and pretend to be her manager and eventually signed. subsequently, she dropped out of college and went to work on the music thing full time.

from 21-23, jolie was pretty much doing nothing but playing festivals and clocking in hours at studios. most of her time was spent on the road and she absolutely loved it — she loved the music festival atmosphere, loved the crowds, loved meeting other bands and fans. she was pretty much touring on the few songs she had released, covers, and unreleased tracks from a wip, but it worked for her and it worked for the fans. she released her first album, ultraviolet on her 23rd birthday, and hit the road again.

jolie missed her “college” life with the parties and socialization at her fingertips, so she started elbowing her way into that scene while she was on tour — at first, it wasn’t anything to bat an eye at, but jolie’s limits were very fluid. being on tour was draining and the perfectionist in her would always find something to berate herself about, and getting out of her head was the only way that she felt she could truly enjoy the whirlwind success that was happening to her. the drugs started as a one-time thing, just to try it, and then she was using regularly, and then it got to a point where she couldn’t go more than an hour without a line of coke. the drugs stripped away a lot of what made her jolie and left her with a more miserable, grouchier version of herself where her highs were almost normal and likable and the lows were hell to be around.

she came off of ultraviolet’s tour and essentially jumped right back into the studio (she was beginning to break through in mainstream music, with her last promotional single off ultraviolet hitting mainstream radio and doing fairly well) for album #2. it was finished and ready to go, but by that point, the drug use had gotten to an all-time high and the constant turning a blind eye to it from her team was no longer possible. she ended up od’ing and that was it — there was an intervention in the hospital room, and it was off to rehab for jolie. album got postponed and she basically fell off the radar.

she didn’t really make a “comeback” until she was knocking on 26′s doorstep, and by that point she’d been in rehab, getting sober, and then laying low for nearly two years. by the time she was releasing her first single for the new album cycle, she’d all but scrapped the record she’d made before rehab and had something else put together entirely. she released wonderland, which did very, very well. she toured for it and it was wildly different than anything she’d done prior — venues were bigger, more fans, just a whole different circus all around.

probably the one thing she was more proud of than the music was her sobriety, and going on two years of being sober, not much else was important to her. she knew had a pretty black and white view of was good for her and what wasn’t, so after the tour wrapped, she decided to come home. she never pegged herself for the type to get “homesick” because her spirit was very much the wandering type, but she knew she needed to get out of la and nyc. back to chicago it was — which is how we get to the malnati.

present

she’s in what she’d aptly describe as “professional limbo” — she’s not actively working on any one project, she’s just kind of floating until she can find something to tether herself to, whether it’s a single song or an album or something else that appears on her radar. she’s just taking things easy for the time being.

career wise, think marina, l*na — more of a cult favorite than a mainstream artist. not going to get mobbed when she goes out and about, able to fly under the radar for the most part. as far as her music goes, i don’t necessarily know if i’ll claim any one artist’s discography and adopt as her own; in my head, jolie’s alt pop. think somewhere along the lines of hayley williams, st. vincent, tove lo, splash of the 1975.

personality wise at this point in her life: will charm the pants off of just about anyone she comes into contact with. flirty. a little goofy, hella sarcastic. there’s method to her madness even if no one else gets it. is still a little guarded when it comes to talking about herself. doesn’t mind talking about what’s happened to her but when it comes to the feelings and emotions as to why those things happened, she shuts down. it’s why she’s a musician: why talk about your feelings when you could just write them into a song and pretend they don’t exist beyond that, lmao. is the passive aggressive type, bottles things up and simmers.

being in the kitchen and cooking has been a tactile sort of therapy for her, especially in her hiatus years. she loves trying new recipes, baking at random (all) hours, sometimes likes to pretend she’s on an episode of master chef. she’s a dork, your honor.

has a thing for polaroids. she has a blank moleskine notebook that she has put through a total ringer, gluing polaroids and other little mementos onto pages as a journal of sorts.

has a stick and poke tattoo (among other professional ones) on her ribcage that she gave herself when she was sixteen. it’s a tiny smiley face.

her middle name came from her dad’s middle name (andrew).

if you want someone to go out with you at night (or during the day, she’s not picky) and just aimlessly wander around the city, letting things find you, she’s your girl. she loves a good adventure.

i headcanon jolie as predominantly dirty blonde/brunette lizzie? but she is also the type who has ruined her hair over the years over all the impromptu dying so... welcome to close your eyes and pretend hour.

plot ideas

this is by no means a comprehensive list of plots, just stuff off the top of my head that i’d like to see? again, i promise i don’t bite, so pls hmu if one of these appeals to you or if you just wanna brainstorm, i live for that shit!!

jolie’s a chicago native, went to college here, so 👀

meredith to her cristina — basically her best friend (not gender specific, either) who tells it to jolie like it is, doesn’t mind if she laments about how the world sucks every now and again, the person she’s calling if she needs help with a body

physically and/or emotionally, somebody who checks in on jolie and that she checks in on as well. we love a solid support system

exes — jolie’s a little bit (a lot of bit) of a player?? so i’d love to see exes that maybe didn’t end too hot, ex fwb or ex flings that never made it official, people she ghosted, exes that don’t want to get back together but don’t like seeing each other with anyone else, anything under that sun

jolie also is a Lowkey (read: highkey) commitment-phobe, but i’d rlly love for her to maybe have an ex that she was so In Love with that she was willing to push through it bc she saw herself with them forever..... and then, for reasons tbd, it ended, and it absolutely crushed jolie

someone who, on the occasion of needing to scratch an itch, is very good about getting the job done. it’s casual sex. there are zero romantic feelings involved, there is no getting jealous when the other person finds a relationship, the two are just good friends who have seen (and will probably continue to see) each other naked #yeehaw

maybe someone who was at one of jolie’s gigs when she was still playing bars that she bought a drink and kept in touch with or smth? or someone she met when she was still predominately playing small sets at festivals? idk i’m rambling someone stop me

a “muse”??? like, someone jolie is fascinated with / inspired by and she finds herself writing songs about / for

gimme someone who’s like an acquaintance at best, they’ve maybe got mutual friends and therefore they hang out a bit but they’re always arguing with one another for whatever reason (they both probably annoy each other) but they’ve got mad sexual tension going on? maybe they act on it, maybe they don’t, but either way, they lowkey enjoy the bantering and being at one another’s throats even if they act otherwise

jolie is a night owl, so... gimme someone who she can turn up at their room at some unholy hour (or that turns up at her room at said unholy hour) and watch a movie with or make a mess of the kitchen from fixing a premature breakfast

maybe someone who knew jolie when she was not in a good place?? and things are still v much tense / unresolved between them for whatever reason

and stuff for the event omg PLS *makes grabby hands*

#malnatiintro #malnatiooc #drugs tw #tw drugs #not sure what to tag so here's ALL the tags lmao

3 notes · View notes

tea-blitz · 5 years

Photo

Alright, I’ve been back long enough to have read through a plethora of kakairu fics, so I guess it’s time to share some of the stuff I’ve found (and maybe drag some other people in this hole with me).

This list is comprised mostly of fics with lower kudos (600 and under). It is by no means a complete list, and you should definitely explore the other works these authors have created!

Please mind the ratings/tags/summaries (will be posting the most relevant tags), and don’t forget to let the writer know you enjoyed it with comments and kudos! Don’t forget to support those WIPs too!

Format:

(link) Title: Status: Word Count: Rating: Pairing(s): Tags: Summary:

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3146960 Title: My Hokage (By YukiSkyes) Status: Complete Word Count: 11k Rating: General Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Hokage!Iruka Summary: “ANBU is darkness, Kakashi. It’s the final frontier for those who either have nothing or everything to lose.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/905997/chapters/1753056 Title: Off-kilter (By Kiterie) Status: Complete Word Count: 8.2k Rating: General Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: N/A Summary: Iruka's always known there's something off about Kakashi, but when Kakashi starts acting even more off than usual, he knows something is going on. Trouble is, it might kill him to find out the truth... quite literally.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11827872/chapters/26692503 Title: Mackerel Sky (By pyroren) Status: Complete Word Count: 13.3k Rating: General Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: N/A Summary: After his parents’ death, Iruka renounced the violent shinobi way, disappearing entirely from the Hidden Leaf Village. As an adult civilian, he finds solace in his peaceful, if solitary, life as a wool farmer on the outskirts of Fire Country. One stormy day, Team 7 and Tazuna find refuge in his farmhouse on their way to Wave Country.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/114435 Title: A Revealing Conversation (By Aviss) Status: Complete Word Count: 1.5k Rating: General Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: N/A Summary: Iruka is not amused when he learns about Konoha's longest running game.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3550394/chapters/7817747 Title: Sealed With A Kiss (By Sandyclaws68) Status: Complete Word Count: 20k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Developing Relationship, Suddenly aware of long standing attraction, Mild Language Summary: Clashing over the chuunin exam winds up putting Kakashi and Iruka on the same side, seeking a common goal. It also forces them to each acknowledge his long standing attraction to the other.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5467574 Title: love, in four parts. (By spycaptain) Status: Complete Word Count: 2.7k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: N/A Summary: (we learn, we laugh, we fear, we begin again.) Kakashi doesn’t look up from his book, but flips the page in an insolent manner - like he’s throwing a minor tantrum, contained perfectly and only expressed through vigorous literary enjoyment. Iruka wants to kill him.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11906769/chapters/26901720 Title: Hunter's Moon (By Maldoror_Chant) Status: Complete Word Count: 10k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Mild Hurt/Comfort Summary: Ninja live and die for their village. Ninja follow orders. Ninja hurt and kill those they are ordered to hurt and kill, including other ninja. Ninja will hunt friends and loved ones if ordered to. Everything else is secondary.

"I promise you I'll survive..."

'Secondary' does not mean 'unimportant'.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/648846 Title: Knowing Me, Knowing You. (By Josey (cestus)) Status: Complete Word Count: 16k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Action/Adventure, Humor, Mission Fic Summary: A simple joint mission goes awry in a way that neither Kakashi nor Iruka could have predicted.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/267468 Title: All Wrung Out (By ericales (anenko)) Status: Complete Word Count: 500 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Humor Summary: "Hey, how about I fuck you?"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15632901 Title: Perspective Shift (By masc_malfunction) Status: Complete Word Count: 3.5k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Injury, Eye Trauma, not graphic, Injury Recovery, iruka centric, Pre-Relationship Summary: When a mishap at the academy leaves Iruka wearing an eye patch for the foreseeable future, he finds unexpected solace and commiseration in Kakashi.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/702148 Title: Upside Down and Sideways (By Kita_the_Spaz) Status: Complete Word Count: 1.5k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Crack Summary: When Iruka and Kakashi encounter an enemy jutsu that winds up putting them in the wrong bodies, things really can't get much worse... can they?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87118 Title: Taking Care (By theskywasblue) Status: Complete Word Count: 4.1k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Fluff Summary: Iruka gets a cold, and an unusual nursemaid

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19005907 Title: i didn't need the stars to know i love you (By novrik) Status: Complete Word Count: 15.5k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Cheating, possible ooc, Happy Ending Summary: iruka can't read the name on his wrist.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/8124838/chapters/18625633 Title: License to Flirt (By Dilly_Oh) Status: Complete Word Count: 5.3k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Humor, Sexual Tension, Driving Lessons..., Or Lack Thereof, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Romance Summary: Iruka really needs to pass this test and get his license. Now if only the hot driving instructor would stop FLIRTING.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/273195 Title: Shinobi Mission: Dating Adventure (By emmykay) Status: Complete Word Count: 2.4k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Humor, Romance, Crack Summary: Dating Kakashi really really (REALLY) isn't what Iruka expected. Kakashi isn't quite sure what to make of Iruka, either.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19371070/chapters/46089433 Title: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... (By tmo) Status: Complete Word Count: 22k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Adventure & Romance Summary: It is a period of civil war. The Rebel Alliance and the Empire have traded blows for years. The Empire is growing stronger with every attack against it but they had a spy in their midst. Before they could be caught, the spy hid their information away for the Rebels to find. An undercover spy for the Rebels is found aboard an Empire starship. Knowing who this spy is, the Empire have no choice but to blast one of it's own ships out of the sky. Aboard, Iruka Umino is just trying to stay alive.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18394001/chapters/43561142 Title: Fragmentary Assurances (By EternalSurvivor) Status: Complete Word Count: 30k Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Minor Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Pre-Genin Umino Iruka, Kyuubi Attack, Childhood Trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Kid Fic Summary: For Iruka and Kakashi, everything changed the night of Kyuubi's attack. This is how they coped with the aftermath.

(Or the strangest roommates Hokage-sama ever shoved together))

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16889997/chapters/39670956 Title: Scars and Secrets (By decaf_kitty) Status: WIP Word Count: 30k Rating: Unrated Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Enemies to Lovers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Past Domestic Violence, Drinking, Drunken Kissing, Alley Blow Jobs, Rimming, Oral SexAnal Sex, Dating Summary: It's the start of fall semester at Konoha College, and Kakashi Hatake has re-enrolled after four years in Special Ops, taking advantage of the GI Bill. He's bored out of his mind and hiding all sorts of scars and burns, both physical and psychological.

His old college friend Gai suggests he help at the Rec Center, working with gifted but troubled kids.

There he meets Iruka Umino, the heroic teacher who doesn't hide his facial scar... who Kakashi absolutely hates with a passion... and wants very much to kiss senseless all night long.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19149067/chapters/45511594 Title: three guys and lessons on botany (By rikacain) Status: WIP Word Count: 10k Rating: Mature Pairing(s): Umino Iruka/Yamato, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka/Yamato, Hatake Kakashi/Yamato Tags: Sex Mishaps, Humor, At least I think it's humor, Konoha is just having a polyamorous dating or fucking culture okay, Friends With Benefits Summary: Iruka is constantly frustrated. Tenzou's Mokuton malfunctions. Kakashi is (marginally) helpful.

Or, why finding out you have a bloodline limit in the middle of getting some is an experience on its own, and the shenanigans just follow.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17831138/chapters/42073652 Title: Night At The Aquarium (By ladyxdaydream) Status: WIP Word Count: 79k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Romance, Feel-good, Family, Humor, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Smut, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Love, parenting Summary: Iruka and Kakashi were comfortable with their new married life. They never really gave children much thought. They liked their freedom (and their uninterrupted privacy), but one night at the aquarium changed everything.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13258152/chapters/30331065 Title: Strange Jutsus and Where to Find Them (By Kaappihomosapiens) Status: Complete Word Count: 14.4k Rating: Not Rated Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Injury, Injury Recovery, ANBU!Kakashi Summary: It was supposed to be the last, easy mission before Iruka could start teaching at the academy. But life isn't that easy, and when he gets hit by a strange jutsu he has to adapt being dependent on Hatake Kakashi of all people.

He should get a prize from not killing a jounin.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9231542/chapters/20936468 Title: Iris (By transkakashi) Status: Complete Word Count: 76.5k Rating: Mature Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: seals master Iruka, Sensor Iruka, Mission Fic, Trans Kakashi, Established Relationship, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Marriage Summary: legacy /ˈlɛɡəsi/ noun 1. An amount of money or property left to someone in a will 2. Something left or handed down by a predecessor 3. The sum of our parts: the lasting effect we have on others: what is left when we are gone

(Or, the one where Kakashi and Iruka learn what it means to be together.)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/150910 Title: Drunken Kissing Challenge (By thecookiemomma) Status: Complete Word Count: 1.3k Rating: Mature Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Kissing Summary: Anko's drunken request leads two rivals to engage in a new challenge. Iruka benefits from it.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15220808 Title: This is Not My Beautiful House! This is Not My Beautiful Wife! (By justdoityoufucker) Status: Complete Word Count: 12.2k Rating: Mature Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Murder Mystery, Yakuza, Hijinks & Shenanigans Summary: That dealt with (for the very temporary time being) Kakashi turned his mind to the primary issue at hand, namely: the goddamn body that had turned up in one of the first floor bedrooms, and the entire reason he'd cornered Iruka. Or been cornered by Iruka.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9906917 Title: Craving (By denilmo) Status: Complete Word Count: 3.9k Rating: Mature Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: If you squint it's KakaIru, but it's mostly Kakashi being a perv, Kakashi on Kakashi, Self-Love, inappropriate use of bunshin, clones were never intended for this, Masturbation Summary: When a promising night fizzles out early, Kakashi's not quite ready to turn in. His wild running imagination about the chunin asleep on his couch doesn't help either.

Or. A steamy shower takes an even steamier turn.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/645980 Title: Perception (By txilar) Status: Complete Word Count: 3.5k Rating: Mature Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: N/A Summary: Kakashi learns that Iruka can teach him a thing or two about perception.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/639436 Title: Placement (By imadra_blue) Status: Complete Word Count: 4.5k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Drama, Character Study, Romance, Unconventional Ending, Post-Canon, Character Death Summary: Three years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Iruka visits a Place in Konohagakure where men go to meet other men. He finds a surprise new visitor: Kakashi, the man who had returned from the war carrying Naruto's body. Their subsequent encounter is fleeting, haptic, yet oddly intense. The promise of more lingers in every touch, but remains unspoken.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12317373 Title: Water Fight (By Hexadecimalrebooted) Status: Complete Word Count: 4.3k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Top Umino Iruka, Bottom Hatake Kakashi, men in lacey underwear Summary: Iruka attacks Kakashi with water balloons. Kakashi gets his revenge and gets laid.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/467213/chapters/807234 Title: The Omega Mandate (By Caeseria) Status: Complete Word Count: 20k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Cyborgs, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, First Time, Blow Jobs Summary: In the far distant future, mankind lives in regimented cityscapes, watched over by World, who governs everything from behavior to touch. Iruka lives a content but unfulfilled life, until he meets a surface-dweller named Kakashi. Little does Iruka realize how much Kakashi's presence will change his life, along with a secret that threatens to destroy mankind.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4974211 Title: That Shirt (By Elevensquared) Status: Complete Word Count: 2k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Dirty Talk, Voyeurism, Masturbation, Iruka swears a lot Summary: Kakashi in a sleeveless shirt is very, very distracting.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/644877 Title: Construct (By samsarapine) Status: Complete Word Count: 26k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: N/A Summary: What makes a man a man?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5464007/chapters/12630950 Title: Of Monsters And Men (By tsuyume) Status: Complete Word Count: 18.9k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Harm to Children, Pre-Canon, Kidnapping, Mission Fic Summary: Monsters lurk in the deep shadows of the Shinobi world. It's up to men accustomed to them to find the traces of children lost in the dark.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15957224 Title: A Man's Allowed to Change His Mind (By Kiyara_Iris) Status: Complete Word Count: 5.3k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Umino Iruka/Hagane Kotetsu, Hagane Kotetsu/Kamizuki Izumo Tags: Drunk Sex, Friends With Benefits, Plot-where-art-thou?, Angst with a little bit of a happy ending Summary: Iruka knows with Kakashi, it's only one time. Can Iruka deal with the consequences of giving in?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865359 Title: Thought and Feeling Interwound (By tucuxi) Status: Complete Word Count: 36k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Soul Bond, Jutsu Gone Wrong, Kekkei Genkai | Bloodline Limit, totally invented the bloodline limit, Tropes, Badass Iruka, Paperwork, Pining Self-Doubt Summary: Tsunade walked around the desk and sat directly next to Iruka, turning both of their chairs with a casually powerful grasp. In the end they were facing each other, not the desk. He tried and failed to hold her gaze. She reached out and tipped his chin up, forcing him to look at her again. Another hit landed. This time it came from Iruka's left. It felt like it must have shattered bone, ribs grinding against each other in his chest, and Iruka bit his tongue almost until it bled to keep from crying out.

“Tell me, Iruka-sensei,” Tsunade said. “How long, exactly, have you been feeling Hatake Kakashi’s emotions?"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18305246/chapters/43327082 Title: The Forgotten (By MagnusTesla) Status: WIP Word Count: 11k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, BAMF Umino Iruka, Youkai, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Shapeshifting, Panic Attacks, Anxiety, Magic Summary: Iruka has been keeping a secret. One that ends up forever changing Kakashi's life.

Can he overcome this life changing event and reconcile with the person he loves?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/500334 Title: Appetite (By panda_shi) Status: Complete Word Count: 3.8k Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Tags: Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talk Summary: There is a time when Iruka's desires gets the better of him. And it's really only because of one thing: Iruka is horny.

#Naruto #Kakairu #fic recs #long post #tea blitz fic recs #let me know if anything is wonky?#made this monster at 3am #also I was too lazy to resize my banner oh well

107 notes · View notes

druddigoon · 4 years

Text

Snippets of ATLA wips I hate too much to finish that I like enough to post on Tumblr

I know most of my followers are from Pokemon nowadays, but I still do post some atla stuff. Also this is probably like 4k+ words of complete shit so I’m putting them under the cut

Brother, Son

“How do you play Pai Sho?” Ozai asks, peeking over the low rim of the Pai Sho table. He’s almost four now, toddles his way around the palace clinging the legs of the staff, parroting official declarations from the leverage of a chabudai. Their parents barely acknowledge his younger brother - Azulon is busy countering earthbender resistance on the eastern front, and Ilah handles military campaigns to the Water Tribes. As loyal Fire Nation citizens, their duty rings like a mantra: Nation beyond family, personal sacrifice for the greater good.

And Ozai is left alone.

Iroh idly twirls a lotus tile beneath his finger. “You’ll learn it when you’re older,” he says, pulling the trick their mother always used on him. Iroh is fifteen; old enough to join the army but not in the front lines, not yet anyways. It drives him mad.

Ozai pouts and starts whining an ear-grating whimper. That kind of noise usually gets him a backhand and a harsh scolding from their father, but he’s smart enough to realize that Iroh would never hurt him in that way. He tugs on Iroh’s sleeve, puffs his chubby cheeks into a pout. “Please?”

When Iroh doesn’t respond, Ozai stumbles his way to his brother and collapses around his waist. Small arms try, and fail, to wrap around him. “I humbly request assistance regarding certain matters of conduct that appear to be beyond my comprehension. Would you care to enlighten me?”

If Iroh had been drinking tea at that moment, it would be coming back up through his nose. He ends up bursting out laughing, because did Ozai not realize how sarcastic that was? His brother rolls off, confused, but ends up giggling along.

After their laughter petered off, Iroh wipes the tears off his face and grins. “I suppose that can be arranged.” He gestures at the tiles while Ozai bounces up and down. “Now watch, my disciple; Pai Sho is a game of strategy…”

Ozai fails to grasp the finer points of Pai Sho, but Iroh discovers that he didn’t mind. He likes watching Ozai; the boy has an awful poker face, and Iroh can differentiate the multitude of emotions that manifested in his expression. Confusion, in a crooked tilt of his eyebrows and a crease on his nose. Contemplation, in a furrowing of his forehead and intense glare of his eyes. Glee, in the way the corners of his mouth curved like a shy little thing. Iroh begins giving him little loopholes just to see that smile more.

Curt raps at his door snaps Iroh out of his contemplation. Ozai casually moves another tile. “Come in.”

A servant enters. “Prince Iroh, your firebending lesson starts at noon. It’s been two hours.”

Iroh looks at the sun outside his window, surprised to see how low it hangs; he’s never been the one to lose track of time. He glances back at Ozai, who has his head turned away from him as if he’d trying not to meet his gaze. “I’ll be out in a minute. Wait outside.”

After the servant leaves, Iroh grabs his brother’s shoulders and turns Ozai towards him. “What’s that matter?”

Ozai’s face looks crestfallen. “I-” he stops, purses his lips, and continues with the simple honesty of a child, “-I don’t want you to leave, that’s all.”

"No.”

So this is what having a brother feels like. Iroh smiles at Ozai, who looks back incredulously. "We’re princes. The servants listen to us, not the other way around.” He makes his move with a flourish. "Your turn.”

Oai’s grin was the widest he’d seen yet, and their game fades well into the evening.

--------------------------------------

Ozai cannot please their father, Iroh’s learned, and not for the lack of trying. The boy wakes up hours before the sun rises, rehearsing through his katas illuminated by the cusp of dawn. Stands a little straighter in court meetings, gleams with a pomp of authority when in the general vicinity of the throne. He loves Azulon with every fiber of his being.

Azulon hardly notices.

He can feel the flames of rigor flare in his brother’s chi as he watches Azulon address his troops, the wisp of smoke that escapes through clenched fists. They were royalty; lavished with care, laden with gifts, and yet he still yearns, yearns for something that he will never reach. (They have a habit, the Fire Nation, of aiming the arrow further than the bow can shoot.)

Because Ozai is flawed, and very much so. Despite his rigorous training, he is naturally clumsy, as if his chi is innately unbalanced from the moment of his birth. At the age of six he still possesses the incoordination of a toddler, tripping over his own feet and fumbling with objects enough that he’s been banned from the royal archives from accidentally dropping a candle. His fire burns strong, but not strong enough for someone of his bloodline. By the time Iroh was his age, he’d already mastered four more sets than he did. By the time Iroh was his age, he could recite the names and dates of all important battles (all Fire Nation victories, of course) and pinpoint them on a map. By the time Iroh was his age, he had earned the respect of his father of his country.

Ozai is the second-born; less talented, less needed. He bears the scars of the uncontrollable on his skin, reminders of their father’s fury and the love he can never own because of his succession at birth.

(And perhaps that was why, when Azula came to the world with infernos in her eyes and lightning at her fingertips, Ozai named her after his greatest desire, and reached out for her like it never did.)

--------------------------------------

Shortly after Lu (and he should think my son instead of just his name, like he’s a pawn on a roster, just a tally amidst the casualties, but it hurts too much when he’s used him like a soldier instead of loving him like a father) Ten’s death, Iroh receives a letter stamped with the royal insignia, addressed specifically to him. The person who brings it is one of his closest servants, one of the few he allows in his tent anymore; he bids him leave with a jerking sweep of his hand, and Iroh is alone.

The precise calligraphy of words is heartwrenchingly familiar, and yet the letter’s contents read like a stranger’s. His brother’s tone is formal, clipped. Ursa and I are sorry for your loss it reads, and the rice paper starts to smolder around its edges. I have decided to return this back to you. I no longer have any need for it.

There is a bundle attached to the message, heavier than expected, and inside Iroh finds the Prince’s crown. He knows that this means. He knows his brother too much and not enough, because they are worlds away and he is losing him.

His troops looked startled when they saw their general exit his tent for the first time in months, clad in the dark linens of a mourning man. When asked where he was leaving to, Iroh replied simply: “Home.”

--------------------------------------

(“Ozai used to be my brother.” Iroh mentioned once, offhandedly, the night they first camped at the Western Air Temple when he found Zuko wide awake. He was standing in the central pavilion (with its sweeping murals amidst pallid marble, that probably wasn’t built to be so empty) leaning out from the balcony to catch the passing wind on his arm. The other was wrapped up in a cast.

Zuko looked at him. He seemed confused; he could see it in the familiar crooked tilt of the brow, the way his nose wrinkled just so. “But Father still is.”

He says it with such sincerity and innocence despite the bandages obscuring his left visage, and later when he falls asleep, Iroh weeps. Because after all Ozai did to the boy, he still loved him like a son to a father, a brother to a brother.)

Azula Week Day 7 (AN: Never thought of a title for this haha)

“I did not consent to this,” Azula says, after she recovers from the initial shock.

Her only reply is a burble. Izumi is one year and five months old and still communicates in phonemes. Zuzu seemed to be slacking in supplementing her development; by her age, Azula was just beginning to recite classic Fire Nation poems.

She resolves not to mention it in front of him. “I was also under the impression you had alternate babysitting options that didn’t drastically increase your child’s risk of mortality.”

Zuko, who had barged into her household unannounced (“You know there are strict punishments for home invaders under Fire Nation law, right?”), has the grace to act sheepish. “And those ‘alternate babysitting options’ are out of reach now, unfortunately.” He unceremoniously dumps his daughter onto Azula’s lap; Izumi’s shirtfront is damp with slobber and immediately wets Azula’s robes. “Iroh’s tending to his teashop in Ba Sing Se, and Ursa left with Noren to visit their old village for a couple weeks. Mai—not that I consider her a babysitter, she’d kill me—is coming with me, and none of my friends except you and Toph are in the Caldera right now.”

Azula raises an eyebrow, still managing to look skeptical with a toddler drooling against her robes.

“Please?” Zuko pulls a puppy-cub face, the one he used when they were children to get what he wanted from their mother. Azula has no idea why he believes it’ll work on her. “I have an urgent meeting with Aang in Republic City, and I can’t bring Izumi—or Kiyi for that matter, she had school—along with me. I don’t trust the palace staff to take care of them.”

Funny how Zuzu trusts her more than the people hired to serve him. Azula relents. “Fine. You better come back for them in four days like you promised, or I’m putting both up for adoption.”

Zuko ignores the jab (it had no heat to it anyway) and showers profuse thanks, pulling her into a quick, uncomfortable, and consent-violating hug. He sweeps out of the apartment before Azula can retaliate, most likely in a way that would burn her house down.

The door swings shut behind him.

Not long after, Toph walks in, clad in her official ambassador’s attire and looking utterly bewildered. Azula takes mercy and fills her in.

“We’re impromptu babysitting for my brother. I have Izumi, and Kiyi’s already upstairs brooding or something.” Kiyi is pushing into her teens and is already doggedly stretching her independence, as well as everyone’s patience. (Azula likens it to jumping off a cliff and hoping to fly.) She had bolted for their guest bedroom the moment Zuko arrived, in an attempt to avoid the “grown-ups” below.

“Oh. Huh.”

“We’re stuck with them until Zuzu comes back from his meeting.”

“Huh.” Toph sits down on their living room couch, still processing the information. Azula tugs a bowl of fruit out of Izumi’s reach. “Huh.”

“Remind me again why I decided to make nice with him.”

Toph shrugs. “Beats me.” ------------------------------------

Azula has brought down armies, made lesser men bow beneath her feet; she overtook Ba Sing Se in a day’s coup without killing a single person, something her ancestors been trying for eons without success; she almost killed the avatar, and had once stood against him and three other master benders (because Zuko wasn’t one) to come out unharmed. She was a prodigy firebender and manipulator, capable of getting almost whatever she wanted.

If any of those achievements transferred to present day, it means that she is capable of feeding a drooling toddler.

“Eat.” Azula commands, pressing a spoonful of rice congee against Izumi’s unyielding lips.

She once had the unfortunate privilege of watching Zuzu feed her—saying “heeeere comes the dragon!” in a disgustingly sugary voice and cooing whenever Izumi took a bite—and refuses to replicate his technique. So far she’s managed to get one mouthful in, only for Izumi to spit it all out onto her bib.

An ungroomed Toph walks into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Whereas Azula always rises with the sun, the earthbender prefers to sleep in. She sticks a finger up her right nostril. “Everything alright here, Thunder?”

Azula takes the opportunity to remove herself from the warzone, stepping over to the sink to wash the stickiness from her fingers. “Just peachy. The infant seems determined to starve herself and I’ve just about given up trying to stop her.” She glares up indignantly when Toph has the audacity to laugh at her. “Hilarious, isn’t it? You try shoving congee up her mouth.”

“Heh, sure,” It’s too early in the morning to engage in their snarky banter, so Toph just picks up the brush on the counter and grooms her boarqpine’s nest of a hairdo. Izumi starts making babbling noises, bits of congee still dripping past her lips. “You go wake up Kiyi then. The clock on the wall behind me says there’s only an hour until she has to go to her classes.”

------------------------------------

“How did waking the sleeping beast go?” Downstairs, Toph seems to have successfully allocated half the bowl into Izumi’s stomach. Her amusement tapers off as Azula sweeps into the kitchen like a brewing storm. “What’s wrong, Thunder?”

(It’s sweet that Toph can detect her moods and episodes through the way she carries herself and know what to do without Azula having to tell her outright. Right after the war it had been a sign that she was slipping from perfection, but nowadays Toph’s gotten sharper and Azula’s learned that there’s strength in vulnerability.)

“Not well, unfortunately. I stuck a hand in its mouth and it bit back.” She occupies herself in wiping Izumi’s face, hoping that Toph is familiar with her moods enough to know now is not the time to pry.

Toph’s not happy about that (she can see it in the way she blows at her bangs, how her nose wrinkles just so) but decides not to pursue. “Well I think that’s all Izumi’s eating today. We should probably change her diaper now. I smelled something funky while I was feeding her.”

“I’ll do it. Agni knows how you wipe your own butt.”

“If you want, I’ll let you do it for me.”

Azula mimes a shudder, and Toph snickers. “I did not need that suggestion. Next time you make such a scandalous request, I’ll sleep in my own bed for the next month.”

“Pssshh. As if you’re able to hold out that long.” Azula is pulling Izumi’s linens out from under her when she hears Toph set another bowl of congee on the counter. She looks over her shoulder to see Kiyi creeping near the table, timid as a sparrowmouse. The girl quietly takes Toph’s offered spoon but ends up clinking it against the ceramic, looking up at Azula in guilt. Toph tilts her head expectantly.

She sighs, strolling over to the pile of supplies Zuzu left her and picking out some clean linens. “I understand that some adolescents are incapable of regulating what comes out of their mouths, and will not hold it against you. Now stop acting like a kicked puppycub.”

------------------------------------

One questionably wrapped diaper later, Izumi is bouncing on the carpet with Azula holding her for support. The toddler is drooling (again) and making infant noises and what suspiciously sounds like “A-zhu-a”. Babies are a peculiar thing, high maintenance with rolls of fat, soft cheeks and a bulbous head. This one has come out of Mai’s vagina, after… no, best not to think about it. Azula can never imagine herself this gross and vulnerable.

An infant babbling Azula’s name on repeat is somewhat unnerving, so she procures a wooden rattle to occupy Izumi, only to remove it when she starts gnawing. Izumi starts pouting and making little distressed noises, so Azula returns it.

Toph has sent Kiyi off with some well wishes and a hearty slug to the shoulder. Now she settles on the carpet, listening to the rhythm of Izumi’s stomps.

“She should be close to walking by now,” Azula says, “Both Zuzu and I learned to walk by our thirteenth month.”

Toph shrugs. “Give her time. She might be a late bloomer; I didn’t walk by myself until I was well over two years old. It’s probably why my parents didn’t see me as a good earthbender, us being familiar with the ground and all.”

A pause. Toph leans in, contemplative. “...Do you think Izumi would let me touch her face?”

It isn’t like Toph—headstrong, stubborn Toph, Avatar’s sifu, greatest earthbender in the world—to speak with a quiet waver in her voice. In a way, her uncertainty makes Azula feel better about her own insecurities right now. They are navigating new territories, but they are doing so together. “I don’t think she’ll mind much. Be gentle with the top the head though; I’ve heard that the skull isn’t too developed there.”

It brings Toph out of her contemplation. She scoffs. “Yeah right, who do you take me as?”

“Someone who punches holes in the pavement when she’s angry and smashes boulders with her head when she’s bored,” Azula reminds her.

“Also someone who’s a master metalbender, which asks for, as you like to say about your crazy fire katas, ‘utmost finesse’.”

Despite her braggadocio, Toph reaches for Izumi’s face gingerly, cradling her cheek against calloused fingers. Izumi wrinkles her face but, to their surprise, does not cry out.

Azula watches as Toph’s hands explore Izumi’s face: cresting over her nub nose, ghosting past her eyes, combing the downy black hair without ever touching the scalp. Toph herself is in a trance, her brows furrowed in concentration. After a brief eternity she withdraws with a fluid motion as if finishing the tail end of a meditation.

“Hello, I’m Toph,” she tells her.

Izumi claps her hands.

‘She’s squishy.” Toph says, turning to Azula. Izumi is repeating “Tawh, Tawh, Tawh” while bouncing in Azula’s arms. Entranced, Toph reaches over to grab her hand. “Can I hold her?”

Yes, they’ll get through this together.

“Can’t know if you don’t try,” Azula says when Izumi leans forward into Toph’s arms.

Ember Island Blues (AN: This was a test thing gone wrong and I hate it a lot)

Azula has only gained a few inches after the war, making her shorter than Katara. Her hair, once lustrous black, has greyed prematurely; her eyes, while sharp, now have a haunted look to them - a sun’s wavering reflection on deep ocean. Still she walks with grim poise and posture, her royal robes replaced with a traveler’s attire that reminds Katara eerily of that decisive Agni Kai. They lock eyes, and the waves rock just a little higher.

--------------------------------------

She wakes to floorboards creaking, Aku’s muffled hiss as she bumps into the dining room counter. There’s a distinct click of a lock, an agonizingly slow creak of the door as someone tries to silence her sneaking out only to prolong the sound she makes. Only when it stops does Katara sigh and get up. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and tamping down a yawn, she steps outside.

Despite the heat wave indicative of Fire Nation weather, Ember Island’s mornings are surprisingly chilly. It’s still dark outside, the sun a sliver of pink beyond the horizon. Katara expects to find Aku fooling around before quickly returning home as the temperature gets to her. What she doesn’t expect is to find her at the edge of the ocean, practicing katas with a single-minded intensity that she hasn’t seen since Zuko joined their group during the war.

She clears her throat, notices Aku’s breath hitch, like she’d been surprised. The girl looks at her with a wide expression. “Good morning, Auntie Katara.”

As if she has done nothing wrong waking up and causing a racket at the crack of dawn. Katara clicks disapprovingly. “Kya and the others are asleep.” You should be too.

“Can’t.” Aku says. She draws her arms and legs toward her body, lowering and exhaling and relaxing at the conclusion of her kata. The entire move is precise, not a hair out of place. “It’s a firebender thing.”

Firebenders rise with the sun, Katara knows. They get their power from its rays, just like how her blood thrums a little bit stronger, her movements a little more fluid, under the waxing of the moon. What she doesn’t consider is how it affects their sleeping schedule.

No wonder she never sees Zuko asleep in the mornings.

“Well, be quieter next time, okay?” She says. Aku nods before resuming her practice. Katara sits down on the spray-soaked crags to watch.

Since the conclusion of the war, Katara’s waterbending had taken a backseat. Nowadays she mostly uses it to heal the scrapes and cuts on her children, to do the laundry. Her real waterbending (the hardening of blood against flesh, puppets straining under a master’s reins) is always - has always - centered around combat, and there is little need for that in an era of peace.

It surprises her how Aku practices without stopping—her little brow furrowing in utmost concentration—until the sun fully rises from sea to sky. If Aang had been this disciplined at this age, he’d have defeated Ozai before the start of summer. Occasionally she breathes, little tongues of flame leaping off her palms, her mouth, weaving fiery blue filigree in the shadowed dawn.

“Were you cold out there?” Katara asks, when the air starts heating up and they are on their way back to the villa. “Do you do this every day?”

“Um.” Aku looked perplexed. “No and...yes? All firebenders have an inner fire, which they have to maintain so it won’t die or get out of control.

"Mine keeps me warm, I guess. We practice katas every morning so we don’t accidentally burn something or someone.”

For such a destructive element, Aku’s explanation hinges a lot on precision and control. Perhaps that is why they need it, Katara thinks. “Do you like firebending?”

“Mhm.” A turtlecrab pops out of the sand, and Aku stops to observe as it burrows back inside. “Mommy always says that bending is a gift. Something that should be used to its fullest extent.”

Of course Azula would say that. “And what about you?”

“I don’t think it’s a gift.” The house is still silent and dark as they enter, the three other inhabitants soundly sleeping away. When Katara closes her eyes, she can feel the pull of her element, Aku smoldering softly by her side. “I think it’s a part of who you are, as a person, I mean. When you neglect it, you’re neglecting part of yourself too.”

Aku gives her one last smile, the ripe innocence of a child, then heads back to her room with the floorboards creaking behind her.

The next morning, Katara rises with the sun and leaves for the seaside.

--------------------------------------

When it comes to her daughter’s appearance, Azula has clearly gotten the upper hand. Aku looks aristocratic: pointed nose, tapering chin, pale porcelain skin. The only outward resemblance to Sokka is her hair. Instead of jet black locks, Aku’s are dark and wavy, like the seas her father had once called home.

Sometimes Katara sees snippets of her brother in Aku’s mannerisms. How she seamlessly segues from a noble strut to stumbling over nothing, how she demands “scientific proof and evidence” when accused of not eating her vegetables, how she inhales information like it is going out of style, how she seems to eat more than Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin combined.

There are times when Aku is just Aku. Her demureness is all Azula with none of the underlying malice. Instead she’s hesitant, almost shy. Asks permission for almost everything she did. Speaks formally, and only formally, to Katara and her children untilasw Bumi decided to ask about her adventures with Uncle Sokka. She is—as Katara discovered accidentally, when she’d seen her sketching the sea on a notepad—an excellent artist. Katara has no idea who she gets that from. Certainly not Sokka, that’s for sure.

Her children are already familiar with the Fire Nation princess, having been babysat together quite a few times. Back when Tenzin was too young to bring to the Air Nomads, when Katara had actually accompanied Aang during his excursions around the world.

Tenzin is more wary than anything. Katara could distinctly remember Aku being there for his birth, but they never had the chance to bond as much as her other kids, what with Tenzin constantly being out with Aang. His father’s absence is clearly stinging; he’s more stiff than usual, takes his glider to coast the drafts first thing in the morning and doesn't return until dusk.

To Bumi, Aku is another playmate he can rope into playing with. As the sole non-bender of his family, he practically idolizes his Uncle Sokka. Aku soaks up the attention, telling (probably embellished, definitely exaggerated) tales of his conquests, later acting them out with theatrical flourish. She’s even carved out a replica of his boomerang out of driftwood, which now rests on Bumi’s bedside when he sleeps.

Kya is immediately taken to her. The girls both love to read, spending hours upon hours on the couch while Bumi and Tenzin play on the beach, curling up against each other with a battered book propped up between them. When not reading, she leads Aku around a tour of their villa and the surrounding beach, pointing out little pools and deltas she uses to practice her waterbending. Aku is fascinated, and on nights when Katara is too tired to enforce the curfew, the shoreline roils with flame-touched waves and steam.

Aku’s flames still give Katara a bitter taste in her throat, the pain of a could-be scar blooming against her chest. She remembers being at the receiving end of two pointed fingers, blue fraying at the edges, the same fingers her brother later kisses at his wedding. Aang is twelve years old again, wrapped in her arms; Zuko is seizing uncontrollably, the world is at war.

But this girl, the result of their union, is not born in war, has never carried the wounds or shed the tears or bore the frigid chains against metal grate bars. Just like Zuko shouldn’t be blamed for the deeds of his forefathers, Aku never asked for her parents’ histories.

Somehow, watching her stumble in the sand, Katara finds it easier to forgive every day.

--------------------------------------

“It’s funny,” she murmurs, “Daddy laughs more to strangers than he does to Mommy, and Mommy acts better to officials I know she hates than she does to Daddy."

"But when they’re alone with me, Daddy can frown and yell all he wants and Mommy can throw fits and cry. And I’m glad. To be part of that. It means they trust me with their weaknesses, in a way.” And perhaps there’s a quiet strength in that too.

Aku reaches over to grab Katara's hand (the girl's skin is gritty with clinging sand, soft with an innocence her aunt’s never had; Katara wonders if she’s ever been burnt before) and their fingers touch with silent truce. "I trust you too, Auntie Katara."

--------------------------------------

Bending is an art. Aku performs it with the steady tenacity of a wolf-warrior, an ice-dodger at the prow of a sailboat. Energy is never lost, only converted. Even firebenders must give to take.

#drudwrites #ATLA #avatar the last airbender

5 notes · View notes