#let's pretend to eat the croissant-moon too

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Two

It feels cliched, like something from a film about a character working in some business firm, but I’m getting coffee for everyone at Mezzotint, the print studio where I am doing my internship. The studio, located above a little craft shop, opens right out onto a quaint street in Stoneybatter. 

It’s up and coming around here, that’s what they call it when they don’t want to admit to its gentrification, and the café that the staff frequents is one of those hipster places where there isn’t any room to sit. The exotic hanging plants in the window form a lush curtain where you can peer inside and see the moustachioed barista at work underneath a wall of interesting looking coffee paraphernalia.

This café is so close to the Luas line that you can hear the ding ding and swish of the tram as it passes every two minutes or so; Tallaght to The Point, Saggart to Connolly Station, over and over and over again. Each day is accompanied by the music of the city. It seeps in through the windows of this café and of our little studio across the road from it in a way that makes me feel like this little street in North Dublin, and I by extension, are woven inextricably into the fabric of the city. 

Everyone likes to pretend that September is the autumn, and even though the leaves are a little bit rusty and the waters a little choppier, the temperature is still warm enough to walk around without a coat in the afternoons. This is something seasonless that can’t decide what it wants to be yet, caught between one moment and the next. A warm breeze licks across my arms as I cross over to Mezzotint with five complicated coffee orders and a paper bag of pastries, pausing to let a woman with flowers in the basket of her bicycle pass me by. 

I pass through the shop first, where Petra is placing a new batch of little ceramic bud vases on a shelf, and I give her her mocha and pan au chocolat. “I like those.” I tell her, and she nods, subtly rearranging the vases and confesses that she’s already bought one. She spends way too much of the money she earns from working at this shop buying things in it, but I get it. I’d be buying stuff too if they were paying me. I head up the stairs to the studio above.

“Aw, thanks chicken.” Izzy, one of the printmakers, takes a coffee out of the holder marked with the letters FWAL on the top. I have learned it stands for Flat White, Almond Milk. It’s only half nine in the morning, and she’s already stuck into her work, the tips of her fingers blackened like burned matches from the ink. She doesn’t eat anything in the mornings because it makes her feel sick, but she’ll have her slightly softened croissant at eleven, I leave it in the bag for her. 

I bring a vanilla soy latte and a maple pecan twist to Gabriel who peers up at me impishly over his small, round glasses. “You look very nice today.” He says, and I grin. “So do you, but you look nice every day.” 

“Stop.” He grins coquettishly and lifts the lid off his coffee to sniff it. “This is soy, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah of course.”

“Good.” He takes a cautionary sip. “Because I’ll know all about it in about fifteen minutes if it isn’t. You’ll all know about it too.” 

“Yeah we definitely will too.” Izzy groans. “Remember that time they gave you whole cows milk?”

“I will never forget.” He says solemnly. 

“Yeah, no, me neither.”

I go over to the back of the studio to give Simon his flat white with oat milk. He told me he was vegan within an hour of meeting me, and I told him I’d actually never met a real vegan before, so it was an honour. It was supposed to be funny but if he thought it was he didn’t show it. 

He’s sitting hunched over an angled desk with a blade, digging grooves into a block of wood. This is what he does, this old style wood block printing, but it’s always got a contemporary twist to it. Like today, he’s working on a scene in a dark lake, ripples swell behind a woman with long black hair who’s naked, submerged up to her waist and looking up at the full moon. 

“Do you like it?” He asks me as I leave his coffee on the table next to him.

 “Yeah it’s really cool.”

He leans back to look, and quickly blows some of the loose curls of shaven wood out of the carved areas. “I like it as well, I think. It has something.”

“Who is it?”

“My girlfriend. It’s always my girlfriend. She’s my muse.”

He’s a very particular type of artsy-intense like that, like he doesn’t think it’s weird to call someone your ‘muse’ in a non-ironic way. “Oh right.” I say. I start turning away to head towards a pile of paper and tools in Gabriel’s corner of the studio, the same ones I’ve been trying to organise all week, but he calls me back over to him. “Yeah, Simon?”

“I’m thinking we should get a start on Christmas cards for the shop.”

“But it’s September.”

“Yes but it takes ages to get everything sorted and printed. It’s best we start designing in the autumn.”

“Oh, alright.”

“So…” He sits up and twirls the blade around his fingers in way that makes me nervous for his precious hands. He doesn’t look at me that much, including now. He’s still examining his work. “You’re doing a degree in illustration.”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Could you draw up some designs? I don’t have time.”

I start to get flustered. “Oh, well, I wouldn’t really know what kinds of things to do.”

“Well, we don’t usually go for traditional type things in the shop, so if you can think of something that’s Christmassy but also, like, bright and modern and fun, that’d be unreal.”

“Mhm.”

“Do you have a portfolio?”

“Not really, just sketchbooks.”

“You’ve not done any kind of client work or anything?”

“Only a shop window.” I clear my throat awkwardly, unsure if I even want to admit to the work I did in Tullamore. “I did some window typography for a cafe during the summer.”

“You like typography?”

“Yeah it’s cool.” I shrug. “But I’d say I’m not very good at it.”

Simon’s mouth twitches up into as much of a smile as he appears to be capable of. “Why don’t you give something a lash for me, just see if you can come up with some fun Christmas card ideas that might incorporate interesting lettering. I don’t know.” He hunches back over his work so I know we’re finished discussing this. “Anything you want, Evie. I’m giving you full creative control, as long as it has a vibe.”

Full creative control is as terrifying as a blank page. I give him an almost inaudible “Okay” and go over to an empty table with a stack of paper to start trying to figure something out. What does that mean, anyway? A ‘vibe’? I sigh and start scribbling something down. 

I work through the morning and halfway into lunch, only realising it is when I surface from the haze of my creative flow to find everybody else gone. I fish around in my bag for the sad sandwich I prepared that morning and then get right back to work. I like it. I have no idea what I’m doing but I like doing it anyway. Sometimes when I get like this I wish that I didn’t have to eat or sleep or use the bathroom, like, I wish my body was a machine that could keep on drawing infinitely, churning out more and more work without the interruptions of my body’s needs.

Eventually the others come back and the sounds of press cranking and plate carving resume, and I am engrossed in what I’m doing. Gabriel passes behind me at some point and gives a little ‘hm’ of approval. “I like your lettering.” He says. “Thanks.” I say. 

I only realise the whole day has passed me by when a soft voice from the corner of the room pipes up. “Pub?” Simon cranes his neck like a submarine periscope and glances around the room at us. Without looking up, Gabriel says “Pub.”

“Pub.” Izzy agrees. 

I glance at the clock. It’s five already, and I feel like I’ve only just got into the swing of my card design. It kind of pains me that I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get stuck back into it again. I haven’t even started thinking about colours yet. 

Izzy tosses a balled up piece of scrap paper onto my table. “Hey, Evie.” She says. “Tools down. Pub?”

“Oh.” I say. “I don’t know.”

“Come on. We’re just heading across into Smithfield for a pint or two. Look outside. The sun is absolutely belting down.”

“We won’t get many more evenings like this.” Simon adds. “It’d be a waste not to come.”

“I suppose I’m not doing anything anyway.” I’m never doing anything, ever. “I can come for a while.”

“Unreal.” Izzy says, and I reluctantly relinquish my coloured pencils and then within five minutes the studio is closed down and the lights are off. 

“I’ll join you in a while.” Petra says as we lock up the studio door. “I’ll just do the cash register and then pop down.” We tell her that we’ll see her there and head out onto the street.

Beginning // Prev // Next

#lucky girl part 3

[sweeethinny]

PLS I REALLY NEED sirius x hestia being a cute couple in hogwarts. him calling her doll🥺🩷

hi honey, thank you so much, i really missed write about them <3

----

''Ew, Prongs won't stop kissing Red,'' Sirius said, helping himself to more pumpkin juice and some bagels and butter, feeling hungrier than usual but trying to keep his composure so no one would notice that something was wrong. 

''Stop being jealous,'' Marlene snapped, eating a piece of cake. "It's their anniversary, you know how they are with dates and all that nonsense." She shrugged, rolling her eyes when Sirius stifled a chuckle.

James, who had been too busy with Lily's mouth before to tell him to fuck off, held up his middle finger and smiled at his best friend, lips slightly reddened. Lily, for her part, just ignored Sirius' existence and helped herself to tea and pumpkin rolls with white cheese and tomatoes, as if nothing had happened in the last five minutes.

''So you're not going with me to see Khalid goes through trying to ask Julian out, are you?'' He'd been waiting all week for this, heard rumors that Khalid had even bought new robes to talk to the girl— who was known for always saying no in the most humiliating ways you could even imagine. Sirius had convinced Remus to go with him, Peter would be in class when that horror show took place, but James was free, he knew that because they had the same schedule.

''No, I have more important things to do.'' His friend shrugged, and by that, Sirius understood that they were forbidden to go up to the dorm during that time. Great, now on top of that, he couldn't even go back to his own room.

Granted, they knew great noise suppression and privacy spells, but it still felt strange to think of James and Lily doing who knows what next to him while he was just reading a magazine about muggle motorbikes.

''Sirius, don't you have anything better to do than snoop around in people's lives?'' Marlene questioned him, and Sirius thought he could tell that he indeed had more important things, but for that, he needed a second someone who would be in a very boring herbology class that he didn't take, and that she didn't want to miss. What was he going to do?

‘’Where were you last night, by the way? I looked everywhere for you but you disappeared,'' Remus, who was quite willing to eat as much as he could – he always got hungry when the full moon was approaching – asked him curiously, sticking a piece of croissant in his mouth in an unpolite manner, which only a wolf's instincts would make him do.

''Walking,'' Sirius shrugged. ''I went to send my letters and also talk to McGonagall about the last assignment I turned in,'' He did indeed, but not only that, but the next two hours after these two tasks he was willing to keep to himself and only share with friends after his companion has agreed to speak. He didn't think Hestia hadn't already blurted out to Lily or Marlene where she went every night, but he wasn't going to speak before her.

Not that he minded, frankly, he'd wear a collar with her name on it like an obedient dog, but Sirius was respecting her time.

''Hm, I see,'' Lily looked at him suspiciously, for the first time that morning. ''Oh, good morning Hes.''

Sirius tried to keep his head from spinning like an animal looking for his toy, and he did well in the mission, just smiling at her like an old friend, and not someone who every night hugged the pillow thinking it was her warm body.

''Good morning,'' She smiled and waved at them, taking the vacant seat next to Sirius. Her scent did things to him that even if Sirius spent hours trying to describe it he couldn't succeed, it was as if the scent overtook his lungs and was food for the butterflies in his stomach that were already awake and making a fuss behind his ribs.

Breakfast went on as it always did, side conversations and Sirius making sure Lily blushed as many times as possible at his sly jokes, as well as letting her curse back at him so he would pretend he was mad at her, just for them to stay in that cold war that was the usual.

As everyone was getting up to go to their classes, Sirius rested his hand on Hestia's thigh under the table, he and James had another fifteen minutes before class, and he knew that Hestia had the first free period, which was the same as from Remus and Peter. The two went to the library to look for a book that he didn't understand what it was, and James took Lily somewhere with the promise to revise the routes they would take later.

"Want to lie down for a while before my class, doll?" He whispered, almost speaking out of legilimency, not wanting anyone to disturb them.

''Sure,'' She smiled, in that extremely cute and adorable way that made Sirius want to run screaming through the halls like the madman he was and already felt. He didn't usually go back to the dorm after he got out of bed, but now he had created this routine with Hestia because it was, oddly enough, the most secluded place he could find during class time.

James made it very clear when he wanted to go back to their dorm, so Sirius knew the times, and Peter and Remus hardly ever came back before the class break the four of them had after three o'clock, so in the morning he was free to stay with Hestia for a while there.

''You're pretty, doll.'' He kissed her cheek as soon as they were walking up the stairs to the dorm, no one else around.

‘’I know,’’ She shrugged, but he noticed the cute way she smiled and blushed briefly. When they got to his bedroom, blissfully empty and messy as they left it, Sirius watched as she kicked off her shoes and lay down on his bed, in the routine way as if they were just like Lily and James, and it took a lot of self-control not to daydream about them actually being like their friends, kissing and publicly being a couple with no shame in the comments or stares.

Sirius lay beside her, his arm under her head, feeling her curly hair caressing his skin, the two of them turned to face each other, her small body fitting perfectly against his, her legs on top of his, and their noses almost touching.

It wasn't long before she reached over and kissed him, her soft mouth doing things to Sirius that made him feel back to being thirteen and getting hard just at the thought of a woman next to him. It was like being in heaven, nothing got in their way and while she was there, lying next to him, the world was perfect in a way that even he couldn't explain.

It was the best fifteen minutes of his life, for sure.

#sirius black #sirius x hestia #my fic

[5283]

wanted to do this for some time now, it's literally useless and doesn't matter but i want to have some fun and share

how i see each stray kid:

― i.n (maknae first rule applies here too let's go)

a freshly baked butter croissant with just right crunchiness on the outside and sweet softness on the inside; one of those clean plain oversized outfit aesthetic instagrammers; handsome not in an intimidating way but in the has-the-warmest-heart kind of way; probably finds "boring" activities like sitting in cafes or in parks for hours and just talking very fun; is a true food connoisseur but somehow you only see him eat the same few foods everyday; has a lot of mysterious hobbies he tells no one about and also has a secret talent de-shelling shrimps very fast.

― seungmin

a barista that you could feel insulted by if you took things very personally but he just asked your choice of milk in a way too serious tone; not a puppy at all, only likes pretending being one and either thinks he's deceiving everyone around him very well or just couldn't care less if anyone notices; encourages swearing as an emotional release technique but doesn't swear himself and speaks in an almost uncomfortable refined manner; cat-type of clingy where one moment he's on your lap purring not letting you remove him and the other he's biting your finger when you just wanted to scratch his chin quickly to say goodbye as you were leaving.

― felix

a house gnome that silently dusts off your window panes and bookshelves at night while you soundly sleep; a schoolmate in elementary school that would always braid your hair during recess; you can see his bright yellow aureole around his head even if you're not a clairvoyant; a pastor at your local church that gives free drums lessons every week; has glittery fairy wings and fangs that appear once on a full moon; has a power of reading minds and secretly helps you with little things but you couldn't figure it out because of how discreet he is about it; the cousin living nearby that had the newest playstation so you'd come over to play often.

― han

the sequence of golden ratio; a friend that always remembers his dreams from start to finish and every other day tells you about the one he had last night so enthusiastically you could believe it actually happened in real life; the safety of entering an empty coffee shop when it just opened and them having your favorite cake; would tell you the entire plot of an anime he recently finished watching including spoilers because he was just so excited about it and couldn't hold it in any longer; would forget to text you but once he'd do, it would be 5 detailed paragraphs on how he's been lately and asking you how you've been too.

― hyunjin

would send you facebook event requests for new art exhibitions every week; carries a film camera when he goes for a packet of banana milk to a grocery store 5 minutes away; gifts you polaroid pictures he's taken of you on your birthdays; a person whose little gestures and speech patterns you could observe for hours out of pure fascination; your aunt that lives far away from you and is not involved in your personal life at all but still remembers to congratulate you on your birthday every year and her text is always the one that hits home the most.

― changbin

would buy you that big ikea djungelskog bear plush and leave it at your door without an explanation; actual manifestation of the leo zodiac; isn't about brands at all but somehow his socks are prada nevertheless and they're different colors too because he couldn't find the matching pair in the morning; his hugs are probably your favorite type of hugs even if they're short and you start feeling suffocated after 5 seconds; could not take the seat designated for the elderly / pregnant women and would just stand when riding the bus even if it's almost empty.

― lee know

knows about the most embarrassing moments in your life better than your trusted parental figure; is the first one you would come out to about your gender or sexuality; believes in 3 second rule and counts down the seconds faithfully everytime a food touches the ground; on his bookshelf you can find a book about studies on serial killers touching the back of one about moomins by tove jansson; comes over to clip your cat's nails and clean its ears; knows names of every tree by looking at its leaves; a family member who wakes up earlier to make everyone breakfast along with their favorite warm drinks.

― bang chan

the feeling of oneness when you look up at the night sky and see the stars; the "look at the moon!!!" person that always uses a she pronoun when talking about it; would probably get into a playful argument with you about how you used some big word wrongly in a sentence; truest personification of an ENFJ - the word 'family' should actually be credited under his name; most probably was a greek god in one of his past lives; growing up didn't skip an episode of H2O when it was airing real time, also watched series about lifeguards as a teen; probably used to be a tumblr user in like 2013 reblogging those #grunge photos and #quotes in white bold italic font on top of a darker background picture of some blurry dried rose.

#i tried to keep this short!!!!! #now i kinda want to do 'skz as liminal spaces' one or just spaces in general #bc i got sidetracked and almost started typing it out here #dnkdkdkd #stray kids #incorrect stray kids #incorrect skz

[wonder-womans-ex]

Curtain Call

Act One, Scene Seven

Sirius stands there for what seems like hours—though it’s probably only a few seconds—just standing there, staring through the window. Maybe he should forget the whole thing and leave now.  

But Alice pushes the door open, waving when Remus and Lily look up. Before he can protest, Dorcas pulls him in by the elbow. 

It’s like time slows down when Remus’s gaze flickers past Dorcas and settles on him. He blinks, as though trying to clear his vision, and then he does the last thing Sirius expects. 

He smiles. 

It’s like Sirius’s brain just glitches. He imagines James’s voice in his head—as he so often does when he’s faced with situations similar to this one—saying ‘Padfoot.exe. has stopped working,’ and the thought is so ridiculous it actually shocks him back into the here and now. 

“This is Sirius,” says Dorcas for the second time in under ten minutes, and he waits, practically holding his breath, for Remus’s response. 

He’s prepared for anger. He’s prepared for indifference. He’s prepared for maybe, just maybe, ‘Yes, I know.’ 

He is once again surprised, because he is most certainly not prepared for Remus to lean across the table with his hand out and say, “Nice to meet you.” 

“I—um—nice to meet you, too?” 

It’s clear to Sirius that no one else—save Lily, of course—has any idea of the significance of this moment, especially because he’s not actually sure what that significance is. Obviously, they’re wiping the slate clean, but is it so they can start over again?

Or so they can pretend there was never anything written there at all? 

This is the only thing he can think about as Dorcas slides into the booth next to Lily, motioning for Sirius to sit across from her, and he does, even though it means he’s right next to Remus. Frank squeezes in beside him, and Alice behind Frank, and Mary hesitates a moment before she sits down, too, shoulder-to-shoulder with Dorcas. For a moment, he wonders where Fabian and Caradoc are going to place themselves—there’s no way two more people are going to fit in the booth—but then Fabian pulls two chairs out from a nearby table. He sits down in one, then abruptly stands up again. 

“I’ll grab menus,” he says, gesturing with one thumb towards the counter, and Sirius watches him go, if only for something to look at. 

Dorcas grins. “So, Sirius, tell us a bit about yourself.”

“Um—”

“Invitations to these get-togethers are rare, you know, but you know what’s even rarer? Second invitations. So start talking, buddy, and let the high council judge your crimes.”

“Dorc,” Alice reprimands, “you’re scaring him.” 

“Nah, it’s fine. My brother’s pretty, um, intense, too.”

Sirius’s confidence swells slightly at the laugh that earns him from the rest of the group. “I’m Sirius—I’m twenty-two, but I’m only in first year university because reasons. My favourite food is butter chicken. I was kicked out at age sixteen after I came out as bisexual, and I moved in with my best friend, who also happens to be my brother’s ex-boyfriend. Oh, and I’m an actor. I think that���s the basics? 

Except for Remus, who knows most of this already, everyone stares at him, expressions ranging from stunned to well then. Remus is either trying to break the tension or goad Sirius into something embarrassing when he says, “An actor? Have you been in any movies?”

Deja vu smacks into Sirius like a cement truck. If he recalls correctly—and, honestly? There’s no way in hell he doesn’t—that’s exactly what Remus said the first time Sirius introduced himself. So, of course, he responds in the same way he did then, too. “Ew. Absolutely not. Stage life all the way for me, dude.” 

Immediately, he wishes he could pull up google. Key words: is it socially acceptable to call your ex ‘dude’? Is that, like, legal? 

But Remus just grins and tips his head back in laughter. After a moment, the others follow him in ways that range from a distracted smile (Mary) to a laugh so explosive he imagines Frank would have spit out his tea if he had any.  

They’re still laughing, all eight out of nine of them, when Marlene arrives at their table, one pencil tucked behind her ear and another between her fingers as she taps it absentmindedly against her coil-bound notebook. 

“Hi,” she says, glancing from person to person. “What can I get you tod—Sirius?”

“Hiya, Marls.” 

“Fancy meeting you here.” They both smile a bit at this, because it really isn’t that surprising—neither of them ever spends a whole lot of time away from Frankie’s, really. “Where’s James?”

Sirius gasps, pretending to be affronted. “I do have other friends, I’ll have you know. He and I aren’t joined at the hip.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“Well,” he says, deciding to change the subject, “I’ll get the, uh…” it feels wrong to order fries without James there, and he’s only just now realizing that he hasn’t actually tried anything else on the menu. “The BLT. And a Nanaimo bar, please.” 

“Branching out a little, are we?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay, okay. And for you?”

Without even thinking about it, he, too, turns to look at Remus, who’s got his nose buried in the menu. “A croissant,” he says, just like Sirius knew he would. “Wait, no. Two croissants.” 

“Plain? Chocolate? Cheese?”

It seems as though Remus sits up straighter. “Chocolate?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Marlene jokes in typical Marlene-fashion. 

“Telling. Croissant. Chocolate. Yes.” 

(A month ago, Sirius would have leaned over and whispered that he thinks the embarrassed blush colouring Remus’s cheeks and nose is cute. But now is not a month ago. Now, everything is different.)

Lily orders a Greek salad and an iced coffee, but Sirius isn’t paying attention to her. No, he has eyes only for the way Remus, seemingly out of sheer boredom, takes his phone out of his hoodie pocket and unlocks it, grinning at whatever he sees. Sirius wonders, somewhere in the back of his mind, whether that’s the same way Remus used to smile when he got a text from him. It doesn’t matter anymore, but he can’t help but hope that once upon a time he, too, made Remus that happy. 

He doesn’t speak again until everyone else has ordered, too (grilled cheese and a sundae for Alice, poutine for Dorcas, and bagels for both Mary and Frank; Fabian and Caradoc say they’ll share a banana split (could those two get any cuter, honestly)) and even then it’s only because Dorcas asks him a question. 

“What?” he says, shaking himself out of his thoughts. 

“Marlene—is she your friend? Girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re friends. We’ve known each other for years. Community theatre, mostly, and I see here when I come here, which is probably way too often. But no, we’re not together—Marls swings completely the other way.”

Dorcas nods. “Cool. Think I have a shot? Am I her type?”

“Depends. Do you like Titanic?” 

“The movie? No.”

“Then yes, you’re her type.” 

He laughs under his breath when she adjusts her collar and tucks her hair behind her ear. It’s the classic ‘Preparing-to-ask-a-girl-out’ routine—he’s gone through it himself on many an occasion; here’s to hoping she has more luck—and he looks away to one side to hide a smile. Unfortunately, Remus has had the same idea, and their eyes connect for a few painful seconds. 

This time, Sirius makes himself look away first. 

He finds his gaze drawn to Lily, who’s scrolling through something—probably Instagram—on her phone. He tongue flicks out every once in a while to nudge at her lip ring, and he finds the movement almost mesmerizing.

Just out of curiosity, he thinks about kissing her. Her hair would be soft between his fingers. For some reason, he imagines it smelling like citrus. Her lips look soft, but in his head they’re slightly chapped, cool and warm at the same time as they press against his, and he pulls away to look into those shining amber eyes—

Wait, Lily’s eyes are green, not amber. He is most definitely thinking about someone else—someone with twelve freckles on his nose and golden hair that curls around his ears. 

Three guesses who it is. 

But no, he scolds himself, he is not here to mope over cute boys he used to date. Or any cute boys at all, for that matter. He’s here to have fun. To make friends. To eat good food. If Remus wants to play strangers, they’ll do just that. 

“So,” he says, turning his head sideways. “You’re John, right? John Lupin?”

Maybe, just maybe, someone will explain the whole fake name thing. 

And for once, his prayers are answered. 

“Well, no,” Remus says, and Sirius searches those beautiful eyes for any trace of the fact that they both know he knows this already. He’s not sure whether to be bitter or hurt or simply sad when he finds none, so he settles for a bit of all three. “Actually, John’s my middle name. My first name’s Remus. But if you’re a literature student with a name like Remus Lupin, the only people who are going to take you seriously are the ones—well, the ones with names like Sirius Black. So I started going by John, and it just sort of stuck.”

“Remus.” Sirius twists his mouth around it, enunciating both syllables carefully, like he’s saying it for the first time. He supposes he is, in a way—after all, by unspoken agreement they seem to be starting over. 

“It’s like—do you ever get—do people ever think your name’s just a stage name? 

“All the time.” He can’t quite be sure whether or not they’ve had a conversation like this before; it does seem familiar, but most things do these days. Even if they haven’t really discussed this already, they almost certainly have in Sirius’s head. Or something similar to it, anyway.

 “It’s like that. People assume it isn’t my real name, so I changed it.” 

“Huh.” Tilting his head slightly, Sirius puts on an ‘innocently curious’ air that he knows Remus will be able to see right through. “Anything else I should know about you? 

“I turn into a bloodthirsty werewolf on full moons,” Remus says without skipping a beat. It’s impressive, really, how long he holds a completely straight face, and Sirius watches carefully to try and catch even a glimpse of a smile. “All right,” he says when it becomes clear none will appear. “Monsters are people too, I guess.”

And there it is—that wide, oh-so-brilliant grin that still makes his breath catch in his throat. No, he reprimands. No. Absolutely not. You are not going to fall in love with him again. It will only end in pain. Your pain. 

That’s right. He’s not in love. He’s not even in crush. He’s just becoming friends with someone he used to date. No biggie. Plenty of people do that, right? James and Regulus broke up almost a year ago, and they still hang out. 

Sufficiently reassured, he plows bravely on. “What else? Have you, I dunno, killed anyone?”

“No, but I do have three tattoos.”

Sirius blinks slowly. He can picture one of them—the crossed ski poles on the inside of Remus’s ankle—but he doesn’t think he’s seen the other two. “Really?” 

“Yeah. I’ve got a pair of ski poles on my foot—I’m from Whistler; practically grew up on the hills—and here, on my wrist—” he pauses, rolling his sleeve up to expose his inner arm “—I’ve got the Illuminati symbol.”

There’s a beat of silence as Sirius waits for the ‘just kidding.’ None comes, however, and apparently none will, because now he can see the small triangle inked there, plain as day. 

“I was eighteen, okay?” continues Remus. “And I hadn’t slept in like four days and I might have been slightly drunk. Everyone who has tattoos also has tattoo horror stories, and this is mine. Don’t judge me.”

“I’m not judging you.” And he’s really not. He knows what it’s like to make bad decisions when one is young and tired—he fights off the flashbacks of a sixteen-year-old James piercing his left ear for him at two in the morning—and hey, at least Remus has learned to laugh about it now. “What’s the third one?” 

“The third tattoo?”

“Yeah.” 

Pulling up his sleeve even farther, Remus points to a patch of tiny lettering on the inside of his elbow. “It says ‘Leviticus 18:22.’” 

“What’s that?”

“It’s a bible verse. You’ve probably heard it before, or some version of it—'thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, ‘tis an abomination.'”

Sirius feels as though his thought process has been unceremoniously dumped into a blender. What? Remus can’t be a homophobe. Remus dated him, for heaven’s sake. 

(He’s also right—Sirius has heard that before. As soon as she found out he was queer, his mother pulled a bible out from he’s not sure where and read that verse out to him. It was, like, a whole thing.)

The only thing he can think of to say is ‘what,’ so that's what he says. “What?”

“Don’t worry,” Remus hurries to assure him, “I’m not a bigot or anything. I like guys, too. I just did it for the edge factor, y’know? It’s ironic; it’s supposed to be funny.”

“You have a really weird sense of humour.”

“I know.”

Slowly, Sirius shakes his head in disbelief. “So three tattoos—ski poles, Illuminati, and bible reference?”

“Yep.”

Then he hears, from the end of the table, “And the one on your neck.”

Both Sirius’s and Remus’s gazes dart to Fabian, who has stopped fiddling with the salt shaker and is looking over at them quizzically. “That constellation thing. The one you only got a couple months ago. 

Remus does not look like a deer in headlights. He looks like an escaped criminal caught in the flashlight beam of a police detective. 

Matters are only made worse—or better, Sirius reasons, depending on how you look at it—when Alice joins in. “Yeah, Moony! That’s the coolest one, if you ask me.” 

Remus blushes. It’s only because of the close proximity that Sirius hears his mutter “No one did,” under his breath. 

“This fucker here,”Alice says, seemingly oblivious to humiliation radiating from Remus’s corner of the booth, “Came home—we live together, Lily and Remus and Caradoc and me—in… what was it? January? With yet another tattoo, and he wouldn’t tell us why. My guess is that he just walked by and saw the design in the window and decided he liked it. Impulsive one, our Moony.”  

Sirius decides that he’s not going to ask where the nickname comes from. He has a sneaking suspicion he doesn’t particularly want to know. 

“It’s kind of funny, actually. Took him like a week for us to bully him into letting us see it, and it turns out he’s got the Sirius constellation right there above his collarbone.” She pauses. “Sirius. Huh. I guess Remus just, like, subconsciously decided you two should be friends, even though he hadn’t even met you yet. Maybe he’s psychic or something.” 

Even if his life depended on it, nothing in the world could make Sirius look at Remus right now. If he does, something terrible is almost definitely going to happen—one of them will drop dead of a rare kind of heart attack, or Frankie’s will blow up and kill them all before their food gets there, or Sirius will start crying. 

A tattoo. A fucking tattoo. It doesn’t make sense to him, no matter the number of times he adds it up in his head, because tattoos are something for people who are forever. 

It’s one of those things you just grow up learning—you don’t get tattoos of another person’s name (or the thing they’re named after; potato, potahto) unless you’re absolutely sure, and sure does not mean kissing other people at parties. 

Unless, apparently, you are Remus John Lupin. 

“Really?” Sirius asks. “Huh. That’s cool. Aren’t neck tattoos supposed to hurt, like, a shitton, though?”

There’s a pregnant pause, like the universe is holding its breath. Finally, Remus smiles tightly and says, just barely loud enough for Sirius to hear, “It was worth it.”

***

If Sirius was held at swordpoint and told to recount what the rest of their conversation entails, he would say ‘stab me.’ All he can say for sure is that whatever discussion is had, it stops as soon as Marlene arrives with the food. 

“Two croissants for you, Sir,” she says, placing Remus’s plate in front of him. “And an iced coffee and Greek salad for you, my lady; a banana split for the two utterly charming earls here; a grilled cheese and triple hot fudge sundae for our duchess and one whole grain toasted bagel with cream cheese for her duke, a plain untoasted bagel with cream cheese for the princess with the colourful hair, and one serving of poutine for the absolute queen I see in front of me.”

Sirius is positive Dorcas actually swoons a little at the ‘queen’ comment. Were this a cartoon, her eyes would now be comically large pink hearts. 

“Oh, and how could I forget. A BLT and Nanaimo bar for our resident court jester.” 

He sticks his tongue out at her. What can he say—he’s immature. And dramatic. The best combination, truly. 

Dorcas watches Marlene turn with a smile and walk back to the counter, and, once she’s sure the object of her affections is safely out of earshot, she sighs. “I think I’m in love.” 

“She snores,” Sirius tells her, to no avail. “Like a pig.”

“I love pigs.”

“No, Dorc.” Fabian’s eyes are glittering. “You love bacon.” 

“You guys are teaming up on me! This is homophobia!” 

“I’m literally gay.” 

“Fuck off.” 

Sirius catches Fabian’s eyes across the table. The ginger waves his ice cream spoon around his ear in a ‘crazy’ motion, and Sirius agrees wholeheartedly. Dorcas is, indeed, crazy. 

“You’re crazy, Dorcas.” 

“Crazy in love.” 

(At this point, he could probably tell the whole story about the tomatoes—acting out the best parts, no less—and it would not change her mind in the slightest.) (That’s a good thing, actually; no one deserves Marlene unless they can accept the tomato story in full.) 

Beside him, Remus is already halfway through his first croissant. Some would say he must be hungry, and those people clearly do not know Remus Lupin. He’s not hungry—well, he might be—he just loves chocolate that much. There were times during their relationship that Sirius joked about Remus loving chocolate more than he loved Sirius himself. 

Well. He supposes that now, after everything, it’s probably true. 

(No! Bad Sirius! No moping!)

His sandwich, he finds, when he takes a bite, isn’t actually that bad. It tastes—well, it tastes like bacon and lettuce and tomato and bread, which it is. It’s quite a good combination, he thinks, and he wishes he’d thought of it first. 

Finally, Dorcas motions for Mary to move out of the booth into the aisle. “I’m going for it,” she says, holding her hand up like a microphone. Sirius can’t help but laugh at the announcer voice she uses, and laugh more when she adds, “Wish me luck, my friends.”

“You won’t need it,” Remus assures her through a mouthful of croissant. 

“Who cares if I need it? It’s about the principle of the thing.”

“Good luck, Dorcas.”

“Thank you, Lily.” 

It would seem fitting, Sirius reasons, if they had popcorn right now. They’re certainly all watching intently, as if it's a movie, the shy way Dorcas and Marlene smile at each other before they start talking too quietly to hear. When Marlene starts twisting her blond hair around her index finger, Remus leans over to him.  

“You’ve certainly come on the right day—episode one of ‘Dorcas tries to woo the girl of her dreams.’”

‘You’re too close!’ Sirius screams in his mind. ‘How am I supposed to not fall in love with you when you’re whispering in my ear and your breath is warm on the back of my neck and if I turned my head we would be kissing and—’

“Look, she’s handing her phone over,” he says instead, and Remus moves away to rest his elbows on the table. 

“Would you look at that. It seems that Operation: get Dorc a girlfriend has progressed past stage one,” Alice jokes. 

Sirius leans forward to look over Frank at her. “What’s stage two?”

“Make sure said girlfriend doesn’t find out about the cactus shrine.”

“...I don’t think I want to know.” 

“No, you really don’t.”

But now Dorcas is walking back over to them, and she’s beaming, and she holds out her phone excitedly. “I got her number! She saved her contact in my phone, too—’Marlene; red heart emoji; parrot emoji.’” 

The first one to start is Lily, and Remus follows soon after. When Alice, too, brings her hands together, Sirius joins in, and soon they’re all slow clapping. He can’t quite be sure whether this is a sincere slow clap or an ironic one, but, judging by the way Dorcas’s grin only grows wider, he’s going to go with the former. 

“Thank you, thank you!” She bows dramatically, and Sirius looks around him at the other smiling faces of booth seven, and he can’t help but think, ‘Oh my god, I have friends.’

#wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #lily evans #dorcas meadowes #marlene mckinnon #alice longbottom #frank longbottom #mary macdonald #fabian prewett #caradoc dearborn #that's a lot of characters actually #remus x sirius #muggle au #university au #breakup fic #tw: tattoos #tw: piercings #tw: homophobia #tw: religion #tw: food

[jenoptimist]

request:

can I request enemies to lovers with Lucas 👉🏼👈🏼🥺

✮ Pairing: lucas x reader (gender neutral)

✮ Genre: (one-sided) enemies2lovers | shopkeeper!au

✮ Additional info: miscommunication & misunderstandings

✮ Word count: 5.3k

♡ Yakult says: thank you so much for the request !! i decided to make this be in the same au as my florist!xiaojun fic but it takes place before it 🤪 don’t worry though, you can read this as a standalone !! 

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Dream Puffs stood in between a quaint bookshop named Moon’s Bookworms and the one and only tattoo and piercing studio in your small town aptly named, Nakamoto’s Body Art Studio. All three buildings adhered to a similar color scheme which consisted of various shades of brown; Moon’s Bookworms was displayed with gold plated, elegant lettering and a dark mahogany colored body, Nakamoto’s Body Art Studio was written with bright neon lights against an umber colored building and the Dream Puffs building was the color of pecans, its name displayed in large, white letters. The buildings across the street were the exact opposite; the flower shop Rainbow V was colored in pretty pastels and the bright thrift shop Tern & Ten’s Treasures was a fusion of artsy and chic. There was an empty outlet just in the middle of the two stores, directly across from Dream Puffs, that was very obviously lacking the loud personalities all the buildings on that side owned. 

Recently there had been rumors that the lot had been sold a couple of weeks ago and that whoever had bought it also would be moving into the apartment directly across from yours. Although your curiosity was peaked, not catching a single sight of the newcomer, you knew that you weren’t the only one. The other owners on the block had gathered around in the far corner of your cozy café, gossiping among one another. It seemed as if Yuta and Yongqin were doing most of the chatting, Kun and Taeil chiming in whenever they thought it was appropriate. Seeing as the rush of customers had officially calmed down, a few of your regulars in their usual seats, you allowed yourself to part take in their conversation when Yuta waved you over with that dazzling smile of his. 

“So, y/n, what do you think?” The tattoo artist asked, his cheek resting in the palm of his left hand. 

“What do I think about what?” You shot back quizzically as you sat down, automatically setting the nape of your neck on top of Yongqin’s arm when he rested it on the back of your chair.

“What kind of store do you think this mystery person will open up?” Taeil clarified, lazily fiddling with the straw in his iced-tea in between his index finger and thumb.

You hummed. “Maybe something for arts and crafts?” You weren’t good at guessing but you did know that a store that catered for specific types of painting and drawing materials were needed, judging by Taeyong’s constant complaints about how there should be an art supply store because shipping was too expensive every time he bought something online.

At your side, Yongqin practically began vibrating with excitement along with Yuta across from you. Their reactions were something you expected since the two of them, as well as and Taeyong, were extremely talented artists; where Taeyong and Yongqin drew for fun, Yuta’s job as a tattoo artists required him to draw on a regular basis and he absolutely adored it. As Yongqin and Yuta chatted excitedly, Taeil chiming in every now and again, your eyes zeroed in on Kun as he sipped on his latte, his eyes suspiciously shifty. Before you could voice out your question, someone entered the café and headed straight for the counter. You had sent Doyoung and Taeyong on their breaks ten minutes prior so you had no choice but to slip out of your chair and bounce over behind the counter.

While the customer’s eyes roamed the menu above you, you occupied yourself with wiping the counter and when you couldn’t pretend to clean anymore, you drummed your fingers on your thigh. Finally, the tall - and extremely attractive - man made eye contact with you. With a smile you hoped wasn’t awkward, you tapped in his three drink orders and asked if he’d like any of the sweets on display since he was studying them so intensely.

“Can I have one of each?” 

It wasn’t an unusual request, plenty of customers had asked before because Doyoung and Taeyong were extremely talented at what they did. You always found yourself fighting for the position to be their taste tester against Donghyuck and Jungwoo whenever they came up with something new. There wasn’t any friendly small talk as you prepared his order, in fact whenever you caught a glimpse of the customer, his eyes were continuously roaming around the building. You were particularly proud of the interior design of the place. Taeyong had spent endless hours painting designs on the walls while you and Doyoung chose the furniture you thought would suit it the best. Your favorite part in particular was the copper wire wall grid that was used to display the instant pictures of the staff posing goofily and the regulars. Judging from the way the customer’s eyes locked in on the pictures on the wall, he did too.

“Thanks for coming! Hope to see you again!” You chimed while you placed the money in the register. It was unlikely to happen, you knew, because the man wasn’t one that you recognized. Dream Puffs often had customers that stopped by because they needed a pick-me-up during their travels. The only response you received was the incline of his head and a gorgeous smile before he turned to leave. You watched his back as he strutted away, your head tilted to the side slightly. 

“Love at first sight?” Yongqin teased in a loud voice from your right and if you had been close enough, you would have thrown your cloth at him. 

“Shut up Yongqin!”

*

“You will not believe what I just heard!” Yongqin exclaimed from somewhere behind you. It was half past six in the morning and you and the boys were setting up, Taeyong had just taken out a fresh batch of pastries while Doyoung was bent over the glass display case for the food, organizing the goods meticulously and adding glacé cherries to the cupcakes. You hummed in question as you snatched a croissant that you knew would be deliciously buttery, flaky and soft when you took a bite of it. “The empty store! You’ll never guess what it’s going to be!” 

“A hardware store?” Doyoung guessed uninterestedly as he adjusted a cupcake. 

“No!” You watched, mid-bite, as Yongqin walked by you and stood so that he was in clear view of the three of you. “A café!” Both the statement and the hot interior of the croissant had your jaw dropping. 

“What?!” You exclaimed while you set your pastry on the flour covered counter, just beside the baking tray full of equally measured, unbaked cookies. 

“Yeah,” he said, dragging out the vowels as he slowly bopped his head, “I know right. Dream Puffs might actually have some competition now.”

“Out of all places to set up a café.” Taeyong mumbled, his brows furrowed, flitting over to the other side of the room to grab his bottle of strawberry flavored water. 

“Where did you get this information from?” Doyoung asked after he straightened himself out, crossing his arms over his chest.

Yongqin, who was watching Taeyong gulp down his beverage, mindlessly said, “Kun.” You pressed him for more information, recalling how shifty the said florist had been the other day. Yongqin tore his eyes away from Taeyong. “I don’t really know how he knew, he just let it slip yesterday.” He grabbed a glacé cherry and popped it into his mouth. “We should totally put on some disguises and scope the place out when it opens!” 

Taeyong snorted. “As if you work here.” 

“Well we don’t want you guys going out of business now, do we?” Yongqin reasoned as he ran his fingers through his pink streaked blond hair. “So, are you in?” 

“Of course.” You said, picking up your croissant and taking a big bite of it.

The plan was discussed in pieces throughout the day while the three of you manned the counter. Yongqin stood to the side, switching from chatting to your customers animatedly as they waited for their orders and telling the three of you how he needed a temporary employee because Chenle was going on vacation in a few weeks from June until August. He stayed until he had to return to his own store since his younger sister had to go for her break. As the day dragged by, you insisted that Doyoung and Taeyong to go home early - they deserved it for all the work that they do - while you stayed behind to some additional cleaning before you locked up for the evening. Not bothered to cook dinner once you were home, you called for some takeout as you toed off your shoes. While you waited for the delivery driver to call you to let you know they were downstairs, you flopped onto your couch and mindlessly scrolled through your phone. When the call came, you were quick to grab your cash and dash out your door. 

With a warm box of pizza in your hands, mini boxes of the sides you selected on top of it, you turned to make you way back up when a voice called out for you to hold open the door for them. You fulfilled their request by swinging your leg and waited impatiently for the weight to be lifted off of your foot so that you could run off and eat. 

“Thank you! Oh,” the stranger said when you managed to flash them a quick smile, “hey it’s you!”

Internally, you groaned. What would it take for you to be able to eat your dinner? It was going to get cold. Plus you ordered their fudge brownie that came with ice-cream. Nevertheless you plastered on a smile while turning your head to the side that the stranger decided to occupy and found yourself looking at the tall and handsome man from a few days ago. 

“Yeah,” you agreed, not knowing what else to say as you followed him into the elevator and also stunned by the fact that he could potentially have lived here all this time somehow without you ever seeing him. Although, maybe he was visiting a friend? “Are you the one who moved in across the hall?” You asked curiously after eyeing him press the button to your floor.

“Guilty as charged,” he replied, raising both his arms. Then, dropping them back down to his sides and stuffing them into his jacket pockets, he said, “my name’s Wong Yukhei.”

“Y/n. I’d shake your hand but, y’know.” You lifted the boxes of food for emphasis and he nodded understandingly. Yukhei got a few words in about the town, how cute he found it and how friendly the people were, before the ding! of the elevator finally signaled the end of your short journey to your floor. Yukhei allowed you to exit before him.

“Well it’s nice to officially meet you, neighbor.” Yukhei said, grinning cheekily as the two of you stood outside your respective doors, facing one another. 

After replying with sentiments that mirrored his, you finally entered your apartment and all but sprinted to your coach and dug in. Your new neighbor seemed nice enough. You wondered what brought him over to this town–there was nothing particularly attractive about it except for the people that lived there, not that anyone living outside of the town would know that or anything. It was when you were halfway through your third slice that something dawned on you. 

*

“I know who it is!” You said loudly, barging into Nakamoto’s Body Art Studio. As expected, Yongqin was getting his forearm tattooed by Yuta. You greeted Jaehyun, who was flicking through a magazine, with a high five as you passed by the reception desk and took one of the wheeled stools and sat on Yongqin’s other side, opposite Yuta. 

“Know who?”

“The new store owner! I met him yesterday.” Yuta finished the line he was working on before looking up at you briefly to acknowledge your presence before resuming his work. Yongqin was the one who prompted you to continue. “His name is Wong Yukhei. He was the really tall one from the other day.”

“The one you fell in love with?” Your friend teased. You mimicked his words, voice as high as possible, while making a face at him before groaning dramatically, thinking about how amiable Yukhei had been in the few minutes that you were together. 

“Guys, he ordered all of the food we had on display.” You chewed on your bottom lip. Maybe his friendly behavior was an act, he did know that you work at Dream Puffs after all–you literally co-owned the place. “You don’t think he’s going to steal everything the guys make do you?” Both of your friends scrunched their faces which only served to make you groan loudly again. 

“That’s rough buddy.” Jaehyun said from his position on the right side of the room, the sound of him flicking his page loud and clear when Yuta removed the tattoo gun from Yongqin’s arm. 

“What’s rough?” Jungwoo asked confusedly, his voice sounding further than usual, probably just having stepped out of the separate room that he used to pierce their clients. 

*

You stood behind the register, watching with narrowed eyes as Yukhei and some unfamiliar people filed into the building directly across from yours, each carrying supplies. It had been days and days of you heatedly watching their every move as they worked on their space. While they were all having the time of their lives interior decorating, you were practically tearing your hair out at the thought of having competition that was a mere twenty steps away from Dream Puffs. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust Doyoung and Taeyong’s ability to bake or your barista skills and it wasn’t as if you were the only café in the area or anything - there was another one just on the other side of town - but he really couldn’t have set up literally any other kind of store?

What was even more infuriating was that Yukhei was acting really chummy with you and the others outside of your working hours. It even became a regular thing for Yukhei to wait for your shift to finish so that the two of you could walk back to your apartment complex together. Admittedly, even though you enjoyed your own company, it was kind of nice having someone to talk to on the way home. 

“You’ll scare away the customers if you keep making that face.” Taeil said, his eyes never wavering from the page that he was reading. It was a new book for the book club that he created recently, said it would bring in more customers. He shared a table with Jeno, who was reading the same book, and Mark, who was playing Luigi’s Mansion on his Nintendo Switch.

You sniffed, tilting your head to the side. “I’m not making a face.”

“Dude, you so are!” Mark, who was sitting across from Taeil, said after taking a sip of his banana milk. 

“Don’t listen to them,” Jeno told you nicely, “of course you’d be making a face, I mean, that guy is gonna make a store that could potentially out-business you.” 

You threw your hands at his direction as if to say exactly! with wide eyes. “We’re practically enemies!” 

“Enemies,” Taeyong repeatedly lowly from beside you, amusement ringing in his voice. “As if.”

You gaped after throwing him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean.” Before your friend could reply, your attention was redirected elsewhere with the call of your name. Taeyong bumped your hip and scurried off. You turned to face none other than the man himself. “Yukhei,” you smiled, “the usual?”

“Please. Oh and could I also get...” He listed five other drinks and then picked out some food to bring along with him. As you prepared his order, the two of you talked about your plans over the weekend and even though you were aching with the need to ask about his shop, you said nothing. 

“He’s the enemy.” You whispered firmly to yourself. “Do not get distracted by his cute smile!”

“Cute smile?” Yongqin startled you by popping up from behind you. “Is this about Yukhei?” He asked loudly, tone full of mischief, as he nudged your side.

“Who else would it be about?” Taeil countered. 

Mark and Jeno chuckled while you raised your eyes to the ceiling, briefly reconsidering your choice in friends. Maybe you should stop giving them free drinks. Your gaze flickered to what would be Yukhei’s shop and found him sipping on his drink as he leaned on the glass, chatting to someone. As though he felt your eyes on him, he did a double take and beamed at you. 

“He’s the enemy.” You whispered to yourself once again, hoping that you would actually begin believing it soon, as you raised your hand to wave at him–he kept smiling at you until the person next to him clapped his shoulder and you would have loved to know what he said because Yukhei all but whipped his head towards him, his eyes practically bugging out of his head.  

*

It had been almost a month since Yukhei had moved into town and he still hadn’t opened up his shop. That was something that you kept in the back of your mind, even as he continued to be cordial with you and the others. Although you kept referring him as ‘the enemy’ to yourself, at this point he was your friend. There was no point in denying it or anything, considering that somehow your relationship with him progressed from only speaking to one another when he ordered stuff from Dream Puffs and when the two of you walked home together, to actually hanging out. You guys had actually agreed to start watching movies together every Saturday night and regularly went over to each other’s apartment to keep each other company. 

In fact it was actually Saturday and instead of receiving a text from Yukhei about what food he should bring over with him, it was one asking you to meet in front of Rainbow V. After texting him an affirmative, you changed out of your pyjamas and headed out. 

The nearer you got to Rainbow V, the more you could make out the distinct figure of Yukhei; he was leaning against the door of his shop, his left foot on top of it as he scrolled through his phone. You allowed yourself to stare at him for a little bit longer before taking bigger steps towards him. 

“Hey,” you greeted once you were close enough, “what’s up?” 

Yukhei returned your greeting, stuffing his phone into his pocket as he stepped forward to mirror you before raising his hand. When you gave him the high-five you assumed he was waiting for, he clicked his tongue and wrapped his large hand over yours. Startled, you looked at him with wide eyes.

“Wrong,” he grinned, a playful gleam in his eye, “you forgot our handshake already? Y/n, you wound me.” He placed his other hand on top of his chest, where his heart was, dramatically as he said the last part. 

“I didn’t forget,” you countered. “You got it wrong, dummy, it starts with a fist bump.”

Yukhei huffed, the grin he wore turning into something much softer. “You’re right.” 

Instead of releasing your hand like you thought he would now that it was clarified, he continued holding onto it and even lowered it slightly as if he wanted a better look. He turned it this way and that way slowly while staring like he was inspecting it. As he did that, your eyes flitted over to the beanie that covered his forehead (you liked how it looked on him, it looked really cute on him,) before travelling down to the rest of his face; there was a spark of something in his eyes, his head at an angle, as he stared at your hand in his. It was the look someone got when they found something they had been missing for a long while.

You cleared your throat, warmth creeping up your neck all the way to your cheeks. “Is there something you want to show me?”

“Yup!” 

And with that he interlocked your fingers, fished what sounded like a bunch of keys from his pockets and unlocked the door. He made quick work of turning on the lights, allowing you to be greeted by the sight of minimal style interior. There were large potted plants by the door, a long island with seating as well as booth tables. String lights were hung all around the cream colored wall, providing additional lighting to the dim lights. Yukhei lead you around the space, excitedly telling you about the work that had gone into it and how he had difficulty choosing what kind of style he wanted. 

“It looks amazing,” you complimented as he gestured for you to take a seat closest to where the register was. “It’s going to be a great café, I can tell.”

“Thanks,” he smiled shyly, “that really means”-he paused, tilting his head to one side with confusion written all over his face-“did you just say café?”

“Mhm,” you nodded, “looks like Dream Puffs is going to have some serious competition now.”

Yukhei released a hearty laughed. “Y/n, I don’t know where you got that information but this isn’t a café.” Your jaw almost dropped in shock and you stumbled with your words before settling for a ‘huh’. “Yeah, dum-dum, it’s going to be a boba shop.”

“Boba. . .shop.” You echoed slowly. 

Yukhei nodded, “yeah.” 

Later on the stroll home, after the two of you spent an hour or two in his shop with him telling you what kind of flavors he planned to have on the menu and pulling some suggestions from yourself (“what about toffee popcorn with, I don’t know, maybe whipped cream and actual popcorn at the top?”), he asked who told you that he’d be opening up a café to which you grumbled ‘Yongqin’, he let out a heart laugh again. You could feel the tremors that went through his body as he laughed since you were tucked warmly under his arm and whether or not it was because his laughter was contagious or how weirdly intimate the situation felt - it was the way he took of his beanie and adjusted it on your head, insisting that you looked cold (you were) and the way the two of you were practically glued to each other’s side - but you huffed out a laugh before smiling to yourself and leaned into him more.

“Hey, y/n,” Yukhei called once you unlocked your door. You turned to face him and found him aiming his phone straight at you. “Smile.” Instead of smiling, you made a silly face at him and jogged inside your apartment after the tell-tale sound his phone made that indicated that he snapped a picture of you. 

It was only when you were taking off your jacket and shoes that you realized that he hadn’t asked for his beanie back. Although you knew that you could easily make the short trip to him across the hall, you decided that you would give it back the next time he was at your place.

* 

“A little birdie told me that you and Yukhei went on a date last night.” Yuta said the following morning, barging into your small office and then plopped himself on the couch that was placed near your work desk. 

You were quick to shoot his statement down with, “your ‘little birdie’ is wrong.” After typing a quick ‘Kind Regards’ along with your name and position at the end of your email, you swiveled your chair around so that you could face your friend. He was scrolling through Instagram, double tapping every few seconds. “Who was it that told you that, anyway?”

“I don’t snitch on my sources.”

“I’ll give you twenty-five percent off whenever you buy coffee for a week.”

“Sold,” he said while he typed something quickly on his phone before lowering it so that he could flip himself over on his stomach and look up at you through his lashes. “It was Taeil. He fell asleep in his office and when he was locking up he said he saw you two mooning at each other alone in Yukhei’s shop.”

“We were not mooning at each other,” you sniffed, skimming your hands down your thighs. “What? We weren’t!” You emphasized when he gave you an unimpressed look.

Just as Yuta was about to reply, probably something sarcastic by how he arched his brow, his phone chimed to signal a text. He tutted at you before re-arranging himself so that he could reply with ease. You watched as his eyes read the message quickly before the corner of his mouth quirked upwards and he huffed out a laugh, typing furiously. While a large part of you was curious as to what could have elicited that reaction, you chose to turn back to your computer screen and browse through your email inbox. 

“If you aren’t dating him,” Yuta said after a few minutes of silence that involved him typing away while you binned some junk mail, “then what’s this all about?” From the corner of your eye, you saw him lift his phone towards you so that you could read whatever was on his screen. Turning, your eyes skimmed through his text, your eyebrows all but crawling to your hairline. He allowed you to grab the phone from his hand so that you could zoom in on the picture that followed the texts from Mark–his words were all in capital letters followed by several exclamation points. You opened your mouth to say, well, literally anything but nothing came out so you snapped it shut. Wordlessly, you handed Yuta back his phone before logging out of your computer.

“I have to go,” You said lowly, dazed, as you stood up. “I have to- will you tell the guys I’ll be back soon?” Yuta gave you an affirmative and then you were off, practically sprinting towards the door. 

On the way back to your apartment complex, your thoughts were full of Yukhei. You could admit that you had a big crush on him. It was difficult not to, you thought, what with how sweet and thoughtful he was. He was also funny and knew how to brighten up the room. But did that mean you wanted to date him? You weren’t sure although you knew that you certainly wouldn’t mind going on a date with him to find out.

Soon enough, you found yourself in front of his door. You stared at it for a long time, your heart racing, before you found enough courage to rap your knuckles against it. There was no answer. You tried an additional two times before you decided to leave it be, that you could talk to him later after your shift because he would probably be by the door, waiting for you with that big smile of his. You nodded to yourself and turned to walk away.

“Y/n?” His groggy voice came when you had taken three steps away from his door. “What’s up? Are you okay?” You turned on your heel (he looked adorable with his bedhead) and nodded stiffly, your heartbeat picking up speed again. “Want to come in?” He invited, opening his door wider.

You cleared your throat. “Yeah.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?” He asked, locking his door after you shuffled in. 

“Yeah but there was something I needed to talk to you about.”

Yukhei took a seat beside you on the couch and you tried not to concentrate on his knee that leaned against yours or how he automatically rested his arm on the back of the couch so that you were practically laying on it. 

“Texting me wouldn’t have done, no?” He teased. 

You shot a quick glance at him, took in his cute little smile and then stared pointedly ahead at his carpeted floor. “I didn’t really think about that at the moment.” You replied, your shoulders lifting to your earlobes. The only thing you had thought about was how you wanted to see him when you confronted him about what Yuta had shown you. Yukhei prompted you to tell him the reason for your visit. “Well, um, earlier Yuta showed me a text from Mark and I’m- we’re- your phone wallpaper?” The arm beneath your shoulders was gone in an instant and Yukhei jolted to his feet. “So it’s true?” You asked, peeking at him through your lashes. His expression was one of horror, arms splayed at his sides as if prepared to explain himself.

“Please don’t be mad! Taeil took the picture last night because apparently he saw us? I don’t know, Mark told me so I asked him to send me the picture and, well, I thought it was cute you know?” You did know. Taeil had managed to snap a shot of you two in front of Rainbow V - didn’t Yuta say that he only saw the two of you in the shop? - and it was when Yukhei had been laughing with you under his arm, a smile resting on your face. “I know I probably should have asked you, I don’t know what I didn’t. I can change it now if you want? Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad,” you assured, looking him in the eye so he knew that you meant it. He visibly relaxed, the tension bleeding out of him at your words. Once he stopped looking so panicked, he looked at you with wide eyes before darting them towards the floor. It seemed the roles were reversed this time, what with him avoiding your gaze while you continued staring at him. He raised a hand to cover his eyes while the other went to hug itself around his waist. “Hey Yukhei,” he still refused to look at you, “would you maybe want to go on a date with me?”

That immediately gained his attention. “What?” His voice was soft, coated in disbelief. “Are you serious?” After you insisted that you were, never once breaking eye contact with him, a large smile blossomed on his face and he let out a loud whoop, punching the air in triumph. As if remembering that you were there, he dropped his arm, although the smile remained on his face. “Apparently there’s a boba place opening tomorrow, right in front of Dream Puffs, what do you say we try it out?”

“I’d love to but I’m worried about seating.”

“Don’t worry, I’m on good terms with the owner.” Yukhei winked. The two of you dissolved into a fit of laughter shortly after.

“I’ve gotta get back to work,” you said while you stood up from the couch once both of you sobered. “But I’ll see you later?”

“Of course!” Pleased smiles were plastered on both of your faces even as he walked you to the door. 

*

You had barely stepped foot into Dream Puffs before Yongqin wrapped an arm around you and lead you to a table where Kun, Yuta and Taeil were seated, two vacant seats in between Kun and Yuta. Taeil let out a small titter, a smile that was too wide etched on his face as you and Yongqin sat down. 

“Tell us everything!” Yongqin exclaimed, “spare no detail!”

“I will but first,” you said as you turned to face him. “You brat! You knew that he wasn’t opening up a café, didn’t you? You totally tricked me!” 

There was no hint of guilt from him, just a shit-eating grin that reached from ear to ear. “Maybe so. Now go on, tell us!” You rolled your eyes, feigning annoyance but couldn’t fight off the smile that gradually grew wider and wider on your face as you recounted the recent events that transpired between you and Yukhei.

#ummmmmmm so this probably wasnt what u had in mind when u said enemies to lovers?????? #honestly idek what this is myself rip #i think i might have to upload a completely different one :// #i didnt want it to be yk the usual things like being against each other in school etcetc #i guess enemies to lovers but they're assassins would have been good????? #why did i only think of that now rip oh geez #regardless of the fact that i completely botched ur request-i hope u enjoyed reading it at least???????? #also update on my problems on the app: its still doing that thing i mentioned while editing so i think from here on out i might have to use #my laptop when i work on my fics ://////// #im working on the werewolf!lucas fic now so hopefully i have it up by tonight !!! #anyway here come the tags: #wayv #wayv scenarios #wayv imagines #wayv au #wayv fluff #wayv lucas #nct #nct au #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct lucas #nct fluff #super m #super m lucas #wong yukhei

[8zs]

Communication

(gif is not mine)

Pairing: Slytherin! San x (your/house)! Reader

Genre: Fake dating au, Hogwarts au, FLuff

Words: 1.935

Song: Tungs - The Frights

A/n: Thanks for requesting this bae.....san is kinda the love of my life and the amount of times i’ve dreamed about slytherin san is crazy..... ily

Choi San. Your typical Slytherin prince. 

Your parents often called him the ‘Draco Malfoy of your time’. He was a known heartbreaker, not because he played people, but because he wouldn’t open to anyone. Well, besides his slytherin friends: Seonghwa and Jongho. 

They were the most feared slytherins in school, it’s not like they were up to no good, they were up to too much good. Always telling people off and making other houses lose points.

You weren’t scared of them, after all they were just some teenage boys trying to do as they were told. You even had some classes with them. Once, you were partnered with the famous Seonghwa and he even smiled at you! Making the slytherins (and hell, even girls and boys from other houses) swoon. 

You didn’t mind Jongho and Seonghwa that much, they were nice to you. That is if you consider smiling at you once in a blue moon and not hexing you when you were being rude to a house mate nice.

The one and only slytherin prince San, though. You had never interacted with him, again, not because you were scared or intimidated by him, but simply because he flat out ignored your existence. But you knew he couldn’t be that bad, you’d seen him smiling and laughing in the halls when he was sure no one was looking.

You were a rather observant person, maybe even nosy sometimes, but you couldn’t help it. Your parents had raised you to be curious of the world and it could be wonderful! But maybe not today.

You were late to class and heard someone yelling in the hallway, so you decided to check it out. When you turned the corner, you witnessed a girl, who you recognized to be that Gryffindor girl Chaewon, throwing a box of chocolates at San. “How dare you reject me when I’ve gone out of my way to do all this for you? You’re so selfish, just like the rest of your family!” She shouted.

San looked rather awkward and defenseless, like he didn’t know what to do or say. “Shouldn’t you get to class, Chaewon?” You hissed. She jumped and turned around. “Get the hell out, (y/n). This isn’t any of your business.” You walked over to San and grabbed his hand. “It kind of is when you’re being rude to my boyfriend for rejecting your affections.”

None of you saw that coming, hell, you couldn’t even believe your own words. San quickly cleared his throat and spoke up. “Yeah, I wanted to tell you but you didn’t let me finish. So if we’re done here, I’m gonna walk my s/o to class.”

Chaewon looked at your hands, and then at the two of you. “Whatever.” And with that, she stormed away.

Once she was out of sight, you quickly let go of San’s hand. “I’m really sorry for saying and doing all that, oh my god…She’s gonna tell everyone and it’s my fault. What the hell I-“ You got cut off by a warm chuckle. “It’s fine, (y/n). She isn’t gonna tell anyone.” You just nodded, seemingly knowing Chaewon better than San did, but deciding not to say anything.

So when you and San, coincidentally, walked into the dining hall for breakfast the next day together, you didn’t expect the whole hall to go silent and stare at you two. You looked at San and quickly walked to your table.

When san arrived at his table and sat in between Seonghwa and Jongho, everyone in the hall started talking again except his table. He coughed and grabbed a croissant. 

“Dude when were you gonna tell us you and (y/n) were dating? They’re so cute, maybe even too cute for you.” Some kid named Lucas joked. San shrugged and look Lucas in the eye. “Atleast I haven’t managed to stay single my whole stay at Hogwarts.” Lucas looked down and started eating again.

“Dude, chill.” Seonghwa giggled, quite amused by the situation. “You’ve got some explaining to do, though.” Jongho said with his mouth full of food and San nodded.

When classes were over, San, Seonghwa and Jongho walked to their shared dorm room. The three guys sat down and while San grabbed his books to start looking at how much homework he had, the others kept staring at him.

 “So?” Jongho spoke up. San groaned. “It’s so dumb. That gryffindor, Chaewon I think her name was, she confessed to me. And when I rejected her she started shouting and threw something at me. So (y/n) came over and basically told Chaewon to back off and that they were my s/o already. I didn’t think it would spread around, let alone that fast.” He grabbed a pillow and laid  it over his head and groaned loudly.

“This is your chance, though.” Seonghwa said. San quickly sat up, pillow falling in his lap. “What the hell does that mean?” Jongho laughed. “Dude, we’ve seen you staring at (y/n) sometimes. Even if you don’t like them, you at least find them attractive. Be honest.”

San’s lips formed a thin line. “…Yeah…” “So! This is your chance, mate! You can pretend to date her, and maybe if stuff ends up like in the books, you can get a real s/o out of it!” Seonghwa winked at San. He just rolled his eyes. “God, you sound like a ravenclaw.”

Your friends and housemates kept bugging you. Asking you how you got San,  what was he like? Was he a good boyfriend? Are Seonghwa and Jongho still available?

You just nodded and smiled at their questions, and then immediately locked yourself in your room. You were lucky enough to have a room of your own, for some reason. You didn’t know what to do, and it was giving you a headache.

You quickly wrote something down, put it in an envelope and gave that to your owl. ”Please bring it to the slytherin boy Choi San.” You swear you even saw your owl wink at you.

As soon as San got your letter, he got dressed again and set off to the astronomy tower, where you had asked to meet him.

When he got there, you were already sitting at one of the couches there. You heard him come in and turned around. “Hey…” You whispered. He gave a small smile and sat down next to you.

“I kinda fucked up, didn’t I?” You chuckled. He sighed and shook his head. “It’s okay, (y/n). But what do we do now? I mean, we can’t come out and say it was fake…” You nodded . “Do you maybe wanna… I don’t know it may be a dumb idea… Pretend to be my boyfriend? Just for a month or two! And then we can break up, maybe even publicly, so people will know it’s over and we can continue our lives as if nothing happened?” San simply nodded.

“There have to be some rules, though. For example, no kissing. Only hand holding and hugs are allowed. “ “Yeah, sounds good.” “Anything else you wanna add?” “For now, no. And thank you for coming here, and sorry for dragging you into this.”

He gave you another smile, except one this one was warmer. You couldn’t help but smile back. “I’m going back to my dorms now. I have homework. See you tomorrow, San.” You took his hand and gave it a small squeeze. You quickly let go and walked out. San looked at the stars for a while, and then decided to walk to his dorms too.

A month and a half had passed, and the only thing you could think of is that San was gonna ‘break up’ with you soon. You didn’t want that to happen, was that wrong? 

You had grown feelings for the slytherin prince. You loved and hated it at the same time. You loved that you could just act as a couple and act all sweet and lovely like there was nothing wrong, but you hated that it was time to end it soon.

Little did you know, San felt the exact same. You two hadn’t even talked about breaking up since the day at the astronomy tower. He should talk about this with someone, he thought. The first person that came to mind was Seonghwa, he was pretty smart and good with girls, right?

So when it was time to go to the dorms, he and Seonghwa went somewhere private. “Hwa, I don’t wanna end my fake relationship with (y/n). I think I even have feelings for them.” Seonghwa snorted, he should’ve seen this coming. “And did you tell them that?” San deadpanned. “Of course not! What if they don’t feel the same and I make a fool out of myself?” “Dude, believe me, she’s into you. No girl can fake being in a relationship and act like that.” 

Seonghwa couldn’t tell San you had wen to him with the same problem, and he told you the exact same thing. “Just confess to her, I’m sure it’ll go well.” And with that he pushed San out of their shared room into the hallway that led to the common room. “God damnit.” San muttered.

How the hell were you gonna confess to San? Yes, you were in a fake relationship with him. Yes, you liked him. Yes, you were too scared to say anything about it. 

You were wearing one of his sweaters and it smelled like him, you hated this. You groaned and turned to face your window.

A few minutes passed and an owl pecked his beak on the window, startling you. You recognized that Australian black barn owl, it was San’s. You got up and let him in. It handed you a letter and then flew back away.

“Meet me at the astronomy tower, right now. –San ♡”

San was sitting on the same couch as the first time and when you came in and he didn’t notice you, you couldn’t help but admire him. The moonlight hit his face in a way that made it look like he was glowing. His eyes sparkled, the stars reflecting in them.

His deep brown eyes glowed like a dream by firelight. You felt yourself getting more infatuated by him and his mere existence.

You saw his head turn and his eyes locked with yours. Startling you a bit.

“ (y/n), hey…”

“Hey…”

You sat next to him on the couch and silence fell again. It was comfortable, though. You were both just enjoying the view of the stars.

After some time, San grabbed your hand and you turned to him. He spoke in the softest voice. “I don’t wanna fake break up with you.” 

Your eyes turned wide, and then you let out a small giggle. “I don’t wanna fake break up with you, either. I’ve grown quite fond of you, actually.”

He blushed, oh my god you made Choi San blush. He looked so sweet and innocent, you couldn’t help but reach for his cheek. He leaned into your touch and hummed. “Do you maybe wanna be my s/o? Like, for real this time?”

You gave a small nod. “I’d love that.”

You stared at each others eyes, and he leaned in. “Can I kiss you?” It was nothing more than a sweet whisper, but he dreamed to hear those words from you. He smirked. “I’m leaning in, aren’t I?”

#ateez #ateez imagine #ateez x reader #ateez x you #ateez hogwarts au #ateez au #ateez hp au #ateez seonghwa #ateez hongjoong #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho #san x reader #san imagine #san x you #san au

[babypinkboobear]

Stars Who Listen

Chapter 4: They Listen to Friendships

The food in Bright Moon was so much better than the ration bars Catra ate when she was in the Horde. They had these things called “Chocolate covered Croissants” which were quite possibly the best thing Catra had ever tasted. For some reason she was only allowed to eat them in the morning though, Adora said she didn't get why either. Catra mostly just liked food that didnt come out of a package though. Which meant anytime there was food in front of her, Catra ate, as much as she could. Adora too. It's like they were scared the food would disappear.

“Guys, slow down! The food is not going to disappear if you take more than five minutes to clear your plate,” Glimmer said, clearly exasperated that her friends hadn't broken this habit yet. 

“Glimmers right,” Bow said, laughing, “It's not going anywhere”. They both knew that neither Catra or Adora had any plans to break this habit, ever. Adora had eaten like this when she first came to Bright Moon, so they assumed it was some kind of leftover Horde training. 

Catra glanced up, mismatched eyes flickering between Glimmer and Bow as she finished chewing what was in her mouth. “You don't know that, Arrow Bow. It could disappear at any moment or Sparkles could poof out of the room and cover it in glitter and ruin it,” She laughed as she said this though. Adora had missed Catra’s laugh.

 Of course Catra knew this was bullshit. Her and Adora both remembered the days when they wouldn’t quite eat fast enough and the older kids would steal their rations. They went hungry a lot when they were younger. Adora always used to share her rations with Catra if hers got stolen. Adoras rations only got stolen a few times, and the kids who stole hers always ended up in the medbay for a few days. They had been attacked by some animal with sharp claws. 

Catra had no clue what may have done it. It definitely wasn't her though. Nope, definitely not... Okay so maybe it was her, but she’d never do that now. Of course she wouldn't, she was a better person now, a kind, forgiving person. Didn't mean she regretted it though. They had stolen from her best friend. 

“ Ha I finished first, I win Catra!” Adora said, standing up, “and on that note, I have to head out to help Adare, Glimmer mind teleporting me there? We can go out into the hall so we don't ruin Catra’s food with your glitter” she said, before leaning down to kiss Catra goodbye.

“I love you, Catra. I should be home around dinner.” 

“I love you too, be careful”

“Always am”

“Promise?” Catra whispered.

“I promise” and Adora walked out into the hall, Glimmer on her heels.

Catra returned to her food. She didn't like being away from Adora, especially so soon after such an uncomfortable conversation. Hopefully, she got to stay with Glimmer and Bow. or maybe she would go hide in her and Adoras room with Melog. 

Out in the hallway, Adora was telling Glimmer about her and Catras conversation. It's quick and to the point. Adora asks Glimmer for one favor. 

“Don't leave Catra alone. She needs you and Bow to be there for her.”

~

Catra finished eating before Glimmer came back. She didn’t know if she should stay or leave, but when she stood up Melog basically slammed her back into her chair. She figured she should stay. Bow glanced up when that happened, laughing.

“Are you okay?” he asked, still fucking giggling.

“I'm fine Arrow Boy,” Catra replied, pseudo-irritation in her voice. She broke soon after, giggling along with him. “I guess Melog wants to hang out with you and Glimmer.” 

“Yeah I’m sure it's Melog who wants to hang out with us, ms. I-think-they-react-to-my- emotions.” Bow said, taking another bite of his food. He glanced at the door, clearly wondering what was taking Glimmer so long. He glanced back at Catra, “How much you wanna bet she got lost?” 

Glimmer poofed into the room. “Sorry guys, I got lost!”

Bow winked at Catra, and she had to cover her mouth to hide the giggles. Apparently it did jack shit all because Glimmer immediately said, “hey what's so funny” but she was clearly not in the slightest upset at Catra laughing. Her and Bow shared Adoras love of Catras laugh, it was nice to see her laughing so freely.

“Whatever, Bow do you mind coming with me to my room for a few minutes. Catra why don't you go change, we were thinking of going swimming. Sound good? We’ll grab you on our way back down.” Then she grabbed Bows arm and poofed out. A very common occurrence with Glimmer.

“Don't spend too long making out!” Catra said to the empty room, standing up and beginning the too long trek back to her room. Oddly she didn't mind swimming. Its water sprays she hates, and deep deep water. She stuck to the shallower end of pools, but she did enjoy them. Catra had grown used to Glimmer's bossy-ness, she didn't mean to be rude, she's just really hyper and gets excited easily. She felt lighter walking to her room, she was honestly happy that Adora had confronted her. It felt nice not to lie. Like a massive weight had been lifted off her chest. She just hoped there weren't many other princesses at the pool. She wanted some alone time with Glimmer and Bow. She wasn't sure when she had gone from merely tolerating their presence to actually enjoying spending time with them, but she was very glad she had. They were some of the best friends a girl could ask for. They had seen her at her worst and still came back, and she didn't feel like she owed them as much. Like with the other princesses she had to pretend to be happy-go-lucky like the rest of the rainbow squad, but Glimmer and Bow knew she was a bitch and still stuck around. It was nice.

Melog nudged her, and she blinked herself back into the real world. She had been doing that a lot, getting lost in her thoughts. She didn't remember the walk to her room, but here she was, in front of those absurdly ornate doors. She walked in, grabbing a bathing suit that was basically a sports bra and spandex bottoms, but it was white and gold. Adoras colors. She had been wearing Adoras colors a lot lately. It was like being surrounded by the woman she loved all the time, she loved it. She also grabbed a pool cover, a lacy thing that served no purpose, but Glimmer said she just had to have one. It was white and gold and it was Adoras. Hers was dirty actually because she had been swimming pretty often, which was funny considering before coming here the only time she would swim was during those awful training scenarios. They forced the horde kids to almost drown for hours at a time. Those were Catras least favorite training ‘simulations’. They were not simulations, they were very real. She had watched kids have to be given CPR and taken to the medbay on multiple occasions, so no not simulations. 

A massive poof of glitter brought Catra out of her thoughts. She had done it again, disappeared into her head. She had no clue how long she had been staring out the window.

“Are you ready to go swim! I'm so excited!” Glimmer was bouncing off the walls as usual. She had relaxed a ton since the war ended. If she wasn't actively doing her ‘Queenly Duties’ she let herself have fun. Catra was happy to see her happy (so was Bow of course, but he's her boyfriend so it's expected). And Catra actually was excited to swim.

Glimmer's suit was a pink and purple bikini with hearts all over it. Clearly a nod to Bows classic crop top. Bow was in swim trunks and when the sun hit them just right they glittered pink and purple, again with the whole wearing the significant others' clothing/colors. Catra was learning that it was a tradition in Etheria, one she hadn't been exposed to in the horde but one she loved nonetheless.

Glimmer moved to teleport Catra and Bow to the pool, but as she was about to grab Catras wrist she stopped, one hand hovering over Catra’s wrist, her other holding Bow's hand. “Actually let's walk” She said, and Catras heart filled with happiness. This is why these were her best friends.

The walk to the pool was slow and peaceful. She felt light as air, like she could float away into the stars and die peacefully. She loved it here, knowing her girlfriend loved her and was safe, knowing she had friends who cared for her even after everything. They chatted about everything and nothing all at once. And Catra was happy.

~

“So I looked at the guard and said how did the picture end up in jail?” Bow said, clearly containing his laughter, “It was framed!” 

Glimmer visibly cringed, glancing at Catra with a look that screamed this is the man I have chosen to be with. Catra giggled, jokes weren't really a thing in the Horde, unless it was at the expense of someone else. She actually really liked Bows jokes, she always laughed at them, and at glimmers face when he told them.

“What? It's funny,” Bow said, a tad bit insulted. He really thought Glimmer would laugh at that one. 

“Nothing babe. It was totally funny. Catra laughed!” Glimmer said, laughing at Bows offended face. He really was the cutest.

“Yeah but i wanted to make you laugh,” Bow said, pouting. Glimmer kissed him in sympathy.

“Gross guys, seriously do you really need to do that right now?” Catra groaned, splashing water at the two. She missed Adora and they didn't need to rub in the fact that her girlfriend was off being She-ra and not here holding Catra. She quickly realized that splashing those two was not a good idea, because Glimmer and Bow decided to splash her back. “Hey, two on one isnt fair!”

“You started it,” Glimmer said.

“What are you, 12” Catra said, “You started it, blah blah blah, you run Etheria with that childish attitude?” Catra knew she was being snarky, but they had splashed her, which she fucking hated. 

“Break it up ladies,” Bow said, nudging Catra, “you did start it though”. 

Catra was about to absolutely destroy her best friends in a splash battle as revenge when Perfuma and Scorpia walked in. Catra sank until only her nose and eyes were above water. She loved scorpia but things had been so awkward between them ever since their falling out in the horde. She’d just make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible, so she wouldn't have to deal with it. If they just stayed on the other side of the pool-

“Hello Glimmer, Bow, Catra,” Perfuma said, with her stupid voice that managed to sound like flowers speaking, how can something sound like flowers speaking that doesnt even make sense. “How are you all on this fine afternoon?” She asked.

Catra didn't understand why she sounded so formal all the time. It made her feel… weird. Nobody in the horde spoke that way.

“ We’re good! How are you?” Glimmer said, sounding way too happy to have someone join their little group. Catra didn't want her friends to be stolen away by Princesses who didn't even like her.

“ I am doing well,” Perfuma said. 

Scorpia sat down on the edge of the pool, Perfuma between her legs, back leaning on the side of the pool. Catra stayed silent as their conversation carried on. She heard Scorpia say hi to the group. Sounding far happier than she ever did with Catra, which is no surprise. Hopefully they just didn't interact with her. She could just stay quiet till they left, and not have to talk-

“Catra! How have you been?” It was Scorpia, of course it was Scorpia. The stars must hate her today. Adora’s not here and now she has to talk to all these princesses and deal with Scorpia, who she loves and hurt so much in the past. And her chest is tightening, fuck, not here please not here. She can't breathe, She needs to get it together, she can't do this in front of them. Her eyes are watering, she's crying, she can't breathe. Fuck. 

“Catra are you okay?”

“What happened?”

She didn't know who was saying what.

“Is she okay?”

“Catra, what's going on”

“She is having a panic attack.” 

That was Perfuma. Her voice was distinct. Someone was grabbing her hands. Pulling her into their chest. Another was stroking her hair. 

“Catra, sweetheart, I need you to focus on me okay? We are going to breathe in for 5 seconds, hold our breath for 5 seconds, and breathe out for 7 seconds okay. We are going to do it together. I will count for you alright?” It was Perfuma talking again. She was the one stroking her hair. So that means either Glimmer or Scorpia was hugging her. Fuck.

“Breath in for me okay? 1,2,3,4,5 and hold. 1,2,3,4,5. Now exhale, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Again”

She didn't know how long this continued for. Eventually her tears dried and she could breathe again, she could speak again. And then the apologies came. One right after the other. They were barely understandable, mumbled into the chest of whoever was hugging her. And then she tried to pull away, to run, like she always did, because she's a coward and everyone would be better off without her. She’d leave and they could go back to their happy conversations and, and, and, fuck! Someone was behind her. 

She glanced up and around, trying to make sense of where everyone was. Trying to find an escape route. Glimmer was hugging her, Scorpia on her left, Perfuma on her right, that left Bow behind her. She was boxed in. She couldn't get away. Fuck. 

“Im fine guys. I don't know what happened. I'm sorry,” Catra was trying to deflect. Everyone knew this. 

“Its okay if you aren't fine though Catra. You can talk to us. We love you and we hate to see you sad,” Glimmer said softly. Scorpia and perfuma nodded in agreement. 

Bow rubbed her back lightly, “She's right Catra, you can always talk to us. You aren’t a bother”. 

How the fuck did they know exactaly what she wanted to hear. But they must be lying. She hurt them so much.

“We have forgiven you Catra. Nobody is angry with you. We all think you are amazing” was this bitch a mindreader. How the fuck did Perfuma know what Catra was thinking. She couldn't do this. She needed to get away.  She was pushing past them. Fuck, she should stay. Listen, but she can't, they must hate her. They have too, because if they don't hate her then.. She must be the only one who hates herself. And she couldn't deal with that. So she was going to leave before she started to believe their lies.

She managed to get past Glimmer, hopping out of the pool and grabbing her towel. “I think I’m going to head to my room guys. I'll see you at dinner”. And she was walking out. 

Perfuma is the one who made chase, she grabbed Catras wrist and pulled her to a stop. “Catra, if you would like to talk sometime, about what you are going through or why you were upset, I am always here”.

“I appreciate that Perfuma, but I’m fine. Really. I think I’m probably just tired”. Catra tugged her wrist out of Perfuma’s grip and definitely did not run away. No she walked calmly, because she was just tired. 

Glimmer glanced at Bow, Scorpia, and Perfuma. Catra was too far away to hear the plan they made to make Catra accept their help and love. And also to make her talk to them.

(2700)

#shera #she-ra #catradora #scorfuma #shera season 5 #fuck this is long #stars who listen

[angelofthequeers]

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 44

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

I had...way too much fun thinking of ice cream flavours. And thanks to the others in one of the Discords I'm in for being just as enthusiastic about fictional soul ice cream as I am XD

@smolplantmum tagged as requested :)

Chapter 43 | Chapter 45 | AO3 link

Although Marinette and Juleka are friends, they’ve really only ever hung out in the context of girl squad stuff or Kitty Section business. That’s why, when Juleka arrives early on the windy Saturday designated Girl Hangout Time and suggests that the two of them eat and chat while they wait for the rest of the group to show up, it takes Marinette a few moments to regain her wits and accept the surprise lunch invitation.

“I wish I’d worn the denim skirt,” Juleka grumbles as she pins her purple plaid skirt down, then realises that she can’t open the bakery doors at the same time, especially with her ponytail blowing in her face. Marinette just laughs and pushes the doors open.

“At least you’re wearing leggings,” she says. Juleka snorts.

“Yeah. Last thing I need is some creepy guy trying to get a peek.”

While Juleka heads on up to the living room, Marinette ducks into the bakery kitchen to grab a plate and a few croissants and other pastries baked yesterday that are either going to end up as Dupain-Cheng leftovers or donated goods or rubbish. Then she follows Juleka upstairs with her prize, and Juleka’s eyes light up at the sight of the plate of goodies.

“Admit it,” Marinette says with a teasing grin. “You just wanted free treats.”

“Well, I won’t say no…” Juleka says and snags a moon cake. “But I actually wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?” Marinette says, sitting on the couch next to Juleka.

“About you and Adrien and my brother.”

“Oh.” Marinette sags. “I’m sorry. Did you have to find out through Instagram?”

“No, no,” Juleka says. “He told me before Adrien posted that picture of you three and Kagami. I just…look, I don’t really know anything about polyamory even though I looked it up, and I guess…I guess I just want to be sure that my brother’s not gonna get hurt from this.”

“We’d never hurt your brother!”

“I know, I know. I trust you. It’s just…hard to process, with how long you’ve been chasing after Adrien. And you’re with Chat Noir and Kagami, even if the Chat Noir thing’s being kept under wraps. I don’t know how your dynamic works, and I’m not gonna pry when it’s not my business. You’re my friend, but Luka’s my brother, and I guess I just want to say…don’t break his heart, Marinette. Luka’s always been so empathetic, and he always wears his heart on his sleeve, even if he’s a chill guy. I know he could handle a normal break-up, but this dynamic he’s in? I don’t want to see him get hurt by multiple people.”

“Juleka.” Marinette reaches over to take Juleka’s hand and squeeze. “I promise I’ll never knowingly hurt Luka. We’re gonna try our best to be open about stuff and not keep secrets and tiptoe around each other.”

Juleka gives a soft smile at that, then leans in to pull Marinette into a hug. “Thanks, Marinette,” she says. “You’re a good person. And a good friend. I still haven’t forgotten what you did for me after I was akumatised. You broke my class photo curse.”

Marinette just smiles and pats Juleka on the back before pulling away. “It really wasn’t any trouble, Juleka. Someone had to stand up to Chloé.”

“Well, it means a lot to me,” Juleka says. “So, um…thanks.”

“Girls! Are we doing this or what?” Alya’s voice hollers up the stairs. Marinette squeals and nearly upends the plate of pastries, and it’s only Juleka’s lightning reflexes in catching the plate that prevent a crumby catastrophe from occurring on the living room floor.

“Damn my parents for telling them we were up here,” Marinette exhales, resting a hand over her heart. “That scared the crap out of me.”

The two of them join Alya, Rose, Mylène, Alix, Kagami, and Lila downstairs and then the group heads out to track down André’s ice cream cart based on the photo of a yellowish stone column that’s been posted. As they walk, Lila fills the silence by regaling them with tales of the time she’d supposedly met Bianca Torta, leaving Marinette, Alya, and Kagami to roll their eyes at each other as Lila talks.

“…and she said that I simply had to join her show!” Lila says. “She said that I had the most potential she’d ever seen! That Italian blood in us, you know. But of course, since my mother’s a diplomat and we travel a lot, I just couldn’t commit myself to a reality show. And I didn’t think it would be fair to the other contestants, since baking is their passion, not mine.”

“Maybe you and Marinette could bake together one day!” Rose says. Marinette, who’s using her hand to mouth along with Lila’s story while Alya and Kagami giggle behind their hands, hastens to school her features into the epitome of innocence before Rose, Juleka, Mylène, Alix, or Lila can see.

“Yes, maybe!” Lila says and links arms with Marinette. “I daresay we could teach each other a few tricks! If it’s okay, of course, I wouldn’t want to overstep my boundaries and accidentally insult your parents’ bakery…”

“Oh, of course not!” Marinette chirps. “It’d be a great bonding experience! I’d love to learn from someone with as much potential as you!”

There’s no way this baking day’s actually going to happen. Not unless Lila miraculously becomes a master pâtissier overnight. But even though this might make Marinette a wee bit of a petty person, it’s just so satisfying to see how far Lila’s willing to go to preserve her lies, like how she’s beaming with her mouth right now, but her eyes are anything but amused.

Honestly, how do people fall for these tales?

“Of course, Marinette,” Lila says sweetly. “Anything for a friend.”

“As fascinating as your story is,” Kagami says, “does anyone have any idea of where André could be? That’s why we’re walking around Paris, isn’t it?”

Thank god for Kagami, Marinette thinks, slipping her hand into Kagami’s and lacing their fingers, while the other girls immediately turn from Lila’s Torta story to trying to figure out André’s hint. For a split second, Lila’s face is nothing but sourness, but then her sweet smile is back and she’s joining Alix, Mylène, Rose, and Juleka to try and decipher the hint.

“Honestly, if it wasn’t so funny watching her try and keep her stories straight, I’d have called her out ages ago,” Alya mutters to Marinette and Kagami.

“I do feel bad for letting her lie to our friends like this…” Marinette says. “I hate liars.”

“But there’s no point in making yourself look like the bad guy when her lies aren’t currently hurting anyone,” Kagami says. “I mean, the most that would happen are some broken hearts, but she hasn’t actively gone out of her way to harm anyone, has she? Apart from what she did to Adrien, but she’s apologised for that, so no one would want to hear anything against her. You’d just be shooting yourself in the foot by bringing that up.”

“Then again,” Marinette sighs, “if she does move on to the big stuff, good luck trying to break her influence when she’s got her claws in so deep. Maybe we should’ve called her out before now…”

“Of course!” Mylène says. “The Trocadéro! Come on, before we lose him!”

The eight of them take off running down the busy Parisian street, towards the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro before they can lose André. Thankfully, his cart is stationed right in the middle of the square when they reach the top of the stairs and pause to pant and gasp for breath.

“C’mon!” Alya’s the first one to start bounding down the stairs, closely followed by Marinette, Kagami, Alix, and then the rest of the girls. André’s eyes light up when he catches sight of them.

“Ah, girls!” he cries and spreads his arms wide. “Bonjour and bienvenue! What can André get for you?”

“Hi, André!” the girls chorus. Rose and Juleka grab each other’s hands and bounce on the spot, and André’s eyes light up at the sight and begins to assemble their ice creams.

“Ah, a love so sweet I could cry! Squid ink, lavender, and strawberry to try!” He hands the ice cream to Rose, who giggles and accepts it while snuggling into Juleka’s side.

“Squid ink?” Juleka says, raising her eyebrows at the scoop of black ice cream.

“It doesn’t sound like it, but it’s surprisingly tasty,” Kagami says. “I tried it when Mother and I visited South Korea a few years ago.”

“I love trying new things!” Rose trills. She scoops out a little of the squid ink and holds it out for Juleka to taste, and Juleka lets out a small hum after cleaning the spoon of ice cream.

“Actually…you’re right,” Juleka admits. “That’s pretty good. It’s sweeter than I thought it would be.”

“Also, that feeding each other thing is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, but I might actually be sick,” Alix says.

“Oh, do not pretend that your heart has no one!” André says. “André can see someone who will bring you much fun!”

“Really,” Alix scoffs. “Good luck with that.”

André’s eyes just twinkle as he starts to assemble Alix’s ice cream. “A stinger she has and a lot of zest, so André gives you honey for a queen hard to impress! Bubble-gum for her eyes of the sky as well, and bitter dark chocolate with a trace of caramel! Do not worry, my dear, for you two will transcend physical love when at last you realise!”

“Who the hell?” Alix blinks as she accepts the yellow, blue, and dark brown ice cream. “Okay, uh, thanks for realising that I’m gay and ace, but you’ve gotta be kidding me if you think I’m crushing on anyone.”

“How about you go fuck yourself, Bourgeois?”

“Eat my entire arse, Kubdel.”

Marinette bites down on her lip to prevent her laughter from bubbling out at the realisation of just who Alix’s mystery girl could be. She shoots a look at Alya and pretends to toss her hair, and Alya’s eyes widen to the size of saucers when she too realises the implication of Alix’s ice cream.

“What’s so funny, you two?” Alix says, grumpily shoving some chocolate-caramel ice cream into her mouth.

“Nothing!” Marinette and Alya sing. Alix just raises an eyebrow but thankfully doesn’t push it.

“How about –”

“Marinette and Kagami next!” Mylène pushes Marinette and Kagami forward, unintentionally cutting off Lila. André’s eyes twinkle at the sight.

“Ah, two young ladies with so much love on display!” he says. “But André will stick to the flavours of you sweet girls for today!”

“That’s okay, André,” Marinette says with a smile. “I’m just glad you can see all four of us!”

André beams and starts to scoop out a couples’ ice cream for her and Kagami. “Blackberry for their hair and cinnamon for their sweet but spicy stares! Topped off with delicious dragonfruit for the raw passion that they suit!”

“Wow, you two look scrumptious,” Alya grins as Marinette accepts the ice cream. Marinette rolls her eyes but before she can shoot Alya a snarky response, Kagami silences her rather effectively with a little spoon of bright pink dragonfruit ice cream.

“Oh no, it stained your mouth,” Kagami grins, then leans in and presses her lips to Marinette’s, her tongue darting out to swipe across Marinette’s mouth in pursuit of the sweet dragonfruit stain. Marinette’s pretty sure that her face is the colour of that ice cream when Kagami pulls away, judging by the heat that’s flooded her cheeks.

“Okay, I was wrong,” Alix says. “Rose and Juleka aren’t the most sickeningly sweet couple. You two are.”

“Aww, but now I feel left out,” quips a voice from behind Marinette and Kagami. Their faces light up when they whirl around and find Adrien behind them, his green eyes twinkling as he zeroes in on the ice cream that Marinette’s clutching.

“Adrien!” Marinette carefully hands the ice cream to Kagami so that she can grab Adrien’s hands and stand on her tiptoes to kiss him. Around them, the girls all aww at the sight, except for Lila and Kagami.

“This is a girls’ day, Agreste,” Kagami says dryly when Adrien and Marinette separate, but she still hands the ice cream back to Marinette so that she can kiss Adrien as well. “You can make out with us any other time.”

“Yeah!” Alya crosses her arms. “Get out of here, Adrien!”

“I just came for some ice cream!” Adrien says, holding his hands up. “I didn’t know you girls would be here!”

“Well, take your ice cream far, far away,” Juleka says. “Maybe go share it with Luka.”

“Oooh,” the other girls coo as Adrien’s cheeks pinken.

“But of course, young man!” André sings and starts to make an ice cream for Adrien. “Mint for your gaze and blackberry for both you and the boy who brings happiness for days! And vanilla with raspberry swirl for the girls so dear to your heart! Eat this, young man, and your love will never fall apart!”

“Wow, that’s really what our four-way ice cream looks like?” Marinette giggles as Adrien takes the green, purplish, and white-and-red ice cream.

“Red, white, and green?” Lila laughs, tilting her head and smiling coyly while sidling up next to Adrien. “Those are the Italian colours! Maybe your ice cream’s telling you something, Adrien!”

“Italian colours?” Adrien squints at his ice cream. “No, I don’t think so. I can tell who’s represented by each ice cream flavour.”

“Adrien explicitly stated in his video that our relationship is not open to requests to join,” Kagami says icily. “Perhaps you should respect that. If any of us want to pursue a relationship with another person, we’ll sit down and talk about it together, and none of us have discussed you as a possibility. But then again, if you can’t respect that boundary…”

“Kagami!” Rose gasps as Lila begins to cry. Really, though, one close look at Lila shows that her cheeks aren’t even damp from how much she’s sobbing, so Marinette’s not entirely sure what’s going on here. “You don’t have to be so mean to Lila for making a joke!”

“I wasn’t being mean,” Kagami says. “I was reinforcing our boundaries, which is critical for any relationship, especially a polyamorous one. Adrien outright said that he didn’t want people to request to join our polycule, yet Lila disrespected that boundary. Even monogamous relationships can’t work without respect.”

“Kagami’s right,” Adrien says, scratching the back of his neck. “I mean, jokes are fine, but…Lila did ask me out a few months ago, so I can’t be sure if it’s a joke or if she’s really trying to ask to join. I’m sorry, but none of us are looking for any more relationships at the moment. Um, right? Sorry, Marinette, I didn’t mean to speak for you –”

“No, you’re right,” Marinette says.

“It’s okay,” Lila sniffles and wipes her eyes. “I understand. I’m sorry for overstepping my boundaries. I just won’t try to joke with my friends anymore.”

Marinette resists the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes as Juleka, Rose, Mylène, and Alix rush to comfort Lila.

“I guess it’s just due to my autism,” Lila sighs. “I’ve never known what’s inappropriate. Please, do forgive me if I make any of you uncomfortable…”

Marinette’s eye twitches, and the only reason she doesn’t go off on a tirade is due to Adrien grabbing her hand and squeezing. Noticing that Kagami’s in much the same state, Marinette repeats this gesture with her to ground her.

How dare Lila? Lies about knowing celebrities? Sure, whatever. But lying about something like this? Doesn’t she know how many hoops Marinette’s had to jump through just to have her autism officially recognised after knowing she was autistic for months? How Marinette still struggles with getting support because she’s “normal enough”? And yet…here Lila is, just whipping it out like it’s a tragic backstory, and they can’t just say that she’s lying about this because then they’re shitting on self-diagnosed people –

“Autism isn’t an excuse,” Marinette says coldly. “If I accidentally make someone uncomfortable, I apologise and promise to try and not to do it again. We don’t get to act like we shouldn’t be held accountable for our actions.”

“Marinette’s right,” Kagami says. “Consider this a lesson from fellow autistics. Yes, we might struggle to realise when something’s inappropriate, but we don’t cry and act like we should be excused from being held accountable. It’s an explanation, not an excuse.”

“You two have autism as well?” Lila gasps. Marinette’s eye once more twitches, this time at the “have autism” phrasing. “I thought you would have my back, then! That there would be solidarity between us!”

“That’s not how this works!” Marinette would’ve thrown her hands in the air if they hadn’t been occupied. “That’s not how any of this works!”

“If anything, we’re best-suited to calling you out, instead of someone who doesn’t have first-hand understanding and doesn’t know what it’s like to be autistic,” Kagami says. “Now you know that it’s inappropriate to joke about joining our relationship. The correct course of action is to apologise and then not do it again, not to centre yourself because you were called out.”

“And you’re a liar,” Alya just has to say. Lila gasps.

“What? But I don’t – how could you – I thought you liked me!”

“You lied to me about being Ladybug’s best friend,” Alya says. “Like, come on, why would Ladybug be friends with someone who only just got to Paris? And why would she be friends with a random civilian when she’s a superhero? She knows that could paint a target on their backs for Hawkmoth.”

“Wow, Alya, just because Ladybug didn’t call you her best friend,” Alix scoffs.

“You think that’s what this is about?” Alya stamps her foot. “I happily recorded that interview, so why would I be jealous if I thought it was true? She’s lying!”

“We thought you were just nervous at first,” Marinette says. Okay, so she’d rather stay out of this, but if Alya’s insisting on jumping in and having this confrontation, there’s no way she’s going to leave her best friend in the lurch. “That you just wanted to fit in. But every time someone looks like they’re going to call you out, you pretend to cry so that people will side with you!”

“Like when you were akumatised,” Adrien says. “I let that go because I didn’t want to cause a fuss. But there was no “boy from Italy”. You were upset at being turned down, so you tried to make me look like a predator and then took it back just to show me that you could. You could’ve ruined my life, Lila, just because I said no!”

“You guys have issues,” Mylène says with wide eyes.

“For you, young miss!” André thrusts an ice cream at Alya. “Coconut, banana, and a hint of passionfruit, for the love between your young man and you!”

But even André’s desperate attempt to salvage the mood is fruitless. The standoff between both sides continues, with Marinette, Alya, and Kagami on one side and Juleka, Rose, Mylène, and Alix on the other, while Adrien is stick in the middle and resembling a deer caught in headlights. The standoff only ends when a low voice chuckles, “Of course, Hawkmoth,” and everyone whips around to catch Lila being enveloped in purple-black bubbles.

“Akuma!” Mylène gasps. Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien start to back away, to try and escape and transform, but they’re unable to get away before Lila’s transformation finishes and she’s pinning them to the spot with blood red eyes.

“I am Sanguisuga,” Lila hisses. It’s really not hard to guess her theme, judging by the bluish pallor to her skin, her jet-black hair, the fangs protruding from her upper lip, the short red and black cape, and the gothic black dress with long, lacy sleeves and a layered skirt that’s short at the front and falls to her ankles at the back, revealing spiky black boots and blue-tinged legs.

“Not fair,” Juleka says. “Why does Lila get the cool vampire akuma theme and I get some hideous bubble-gum dress?”

“No, Lila!” Rose says. “You don’t need Hawkmoth! We can sort this out together!”

“Oh, Rose,” Sanguisuga tuts. “Sweet little Rose, always so bright and cheerful. I wonder how much energy you have to give me!”

Before anyone can react, Sanguisuga’s hand has whipped out to grab Rose around the wrist. The black bracelet that Sanguisuga’s wearing starts to glow purple, and Rose gasps and collapses as she too glows purple, held up only by the vice-like grip that Sanguisuga has on her wrist.

“Rose! No!” Juleka grabs Rose and yanks her away from Sanguisuga, but the damage is done, and a bluish, hollow-faced Rose won’t wake up from her moaning, fitful slumber. Mylène shrieks and jumps away with Alix, but the bystanders watching what’s going on are frozen. Before any of them can react, Sanguisuga’s also drained another three people of energy and they topple to the ground like Rose. This kicks the other bystanders into action and makes them scream and start to flee.

“Thanks for your energy, everyone,” Sanguisuga grins, licking her lips. “Now you can – just where are you three going?” She jabs a finger at Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien. “None of you are leaving! And where is that insufferable Ladyblogger?”

“Look, I get it, you’re annoyed.” Rena Rouge leaps down from a tree and lands in front of Sanguisuga with crossed arms. “But taking it out on them just ‘cause you were rejected –”

“Oh, no, it’s so much more than that.” Sanguisuga’s scarlet eyes gleam. “I wonder if Marinette and Kagami know about Adrien’s secret.”

“Secret?” Marinette says, praying to every deity above that Sanguisuga’s not implying what she thinks. “What do you mean?”

“So, you don’t know!” Sanguisuga says. “Well, Adrien, why don’t you tell your friends your little secret, then?”

“I – what secret?” A chalk-white Adrien tries to laugh it off, but he’s not fooling anyone. Sanguisuga’s crimson lips curve into a wicked smile.

“That’s okay,” she says. “I’ll help you out, Adrien. Or should I say…Chat Noir?”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #aotq fic #aotq: hold me #marinette dupain-cheng #alya cesaire #kagami tsurugi #adrien agreste #lila rossi #anti-lila #ugh #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #mylene haprele #alix kubdel #identity reveal #oop #sorry not sorry #lukadrigaminette #adrinette #adrienette #kagaminette #adrigami #adrimi #adrigaminette

[the-space-above-the-stars]

hard feelings

jung jaehyun x reader

Summary: “My mom asked about you again,” you stalled for a second as he bought up the words, seemingly innocent and nonchalant, before continuing to pour his coffee. “She was asking if you would find her a bother if she called you.”

“Not at all,” Your smile is civil, the carefully carved simply curve of your lips you’ve perfected over months, as you hand him his coffee. “You know I love talking to your mom.”

Your breakup with Jung Jaehyun left a lot of things unsaid and a lot of feelings untouched. But it’s difficult to get over someone when you see hem everyday. Even more so when you live with them.

Warnings: wine

Word Count: 4.3K

Genre: angst, fluff

A/N: I hope you enjoy this, this is the first time I’m writing for Jaehyun, so yeah. My requests are open, and this is unedited, so idk if you should have expectations going in. THERE are some parts of the story that are flashbacks and for some reason the italics aren’t working on mobile so i’ll put flashbacks in brackets.

The floor is cold as you slip out of your bed, walking on tiptoes down the hallway to your kitchen. It’s still dark outside and any reasonable person would still be sleeping, but you had chosen to make this the perfect time to go to work.

Jaehyun, you write on a pink post it note, packaging the freshly made scrambled eggs into tupperware. There’s eggs in the fridge, make sure to eat.

Your relationship with Jung Jaehyun was so strange that even writing a damn note became difficult. What words could you use that wouldn’t walk the line of romantic? How would you make yourself sound platonic for a man you still loved?

So to you, the best way to avoid this is to avoid him. That’s why you leave before the sun comes up and try your best to be out of the house once your classes are over. But it’s not easy. You still see him. Every morning at the coffee shop, when you get home late at night and he’s cooking dinner, when he wakes up earlier than you for practice.

6 months ago, you and Jaehyun broke up. And as a broke college student with lack of better lodging, he decided that it would be best for you both to continue renting out your apartment together. Only it didn’t feel like the shared apartment anymore. The pictures of the both of you that used to line your walls have long since been removed and stored away. You’ve moved into the spare bedroom across the hall, in a bed too big for you to sleep by yourself. Getting ready in the morning takes twice as long when you can’t share a bathroom with a person. You’ve become strangers.

The coffee shop is quiet as you turn the light on, the gentle hum of electricity coming to life reverberating through the walls. It’s 6:34. There’s nothing to do but wait, so you do, brewing a fresh pot and pouring a cup while you pull your book out.

[“What’re you reading?” Jaehyun hums, lofting his head from where it rests on your stomach. You’re both stretched out on the couch, his arms wrapped around you.

“The Alchemist,” you respond, laying the book down and running your fingers through his hair.

“What’s it about?” He leans into your touch, eyes closing again as his dimples show in a smile.

“A shepherd from Spain. His name is Santiago and he meets this man who tells him to go to the pyramids of Giza and find a treasure.” 

“Doesn’t that sound like a bit of a scam?” He chuckles, leaning up to kiss your lips. 

“It’s an adventure, dummy. Besides, the kid does get scammed, just not by this dude.” 

“Can you read it to me? Just from wherever you’re at.” 

He lays his head back down as you nod, finding your place again as you start to speak. “The Englishman was unable to sleep one night. He called to the boy, and they took a walk along the dunes surrounding the encampment There was a full moon, and the boy told the Englishman the story of his life...”]

Opening up old memories only invites others back in, and soon you’ve lost focus on the book and are swept into the sea of memories that was your relationship with Jaehyun. Painting your bedroom, moving in, your first date, first anniversary, first kiss, it all comes back. 

The first customer walks in at 7:30 on the dot, a secretary who always picks up 4 americanos. When she walks in, you’re already making her drinks, and she gives you a grateful smile as she swipes her credit card. “Have a nice day,” she calls back, her beige heels clacking on the floors as she walks out with a slight sway from balancing her bag and the coffees. 

Hana, your friend and the other person on the morning shift walks in at 8:00, just as things are starting to get busy. “He’s not in yet?” She asks, slipping her apron on. Her hair, dyed a ashy blonde, goes up in a bun as she takes your place behind the register, allowing you to mix drinks freely. “I must be early.” 

“You say this to me every time, Hana,” you chuckle as you hand two teenagers their hot chocolates. They come to the coffee shop to study before tests, and you sprinkle some extra cinnamon into their drinks just like they like it. “He comes in at 9:00. 8:30 if he has practice, and no, I don’t know if he has practice.” Hana has a vested interest in your relationship with Jaehyun, and you know she’s been hoping for you both to get back together since you broke up. 

8:30 rolls around and he hasn’t made an appearance. It starts drizzling outside, and you curse yourself for not bringing your umbrella. It’s a bit of a walk to the subway station, and then from your station, a few blocks to your home. Your jacket is going to have a rough day. 

Almost exactly at 9:00, a black car pulls up in the parking lot and Hana chuckles as you subconsciously fix your hair, earning her a flick on the arm. Busying yourself with the latte art a fellow tired college student ordered, you force yourself not to look up. But of course, as the bell rings, you still do. 

Jung Jaehyun, even slightly rained on, looks like he walked out of a designer runway. His hair’s swept back and speckled with rain drops, his signature dimples poking out as he holds the door open for the two girls with hot chocolates as they leave. You hand the customer their latte, the smile that crosses their face when they see the design adorning it giving you a small piece of solace. 

“Hey,” he says, smiling at you as he sits down at the counter, in the same seat as always. He’s wearing the hoodie you used to always steal from him. It’s blue, with two stripes, red and white, on each sleeve. It’s gone back to smelling like his cologne.

“Hey. Same as usual?” He doesn’t even need to nod before you grab a cup and the coffee pot, making his regular. Jung Jaehyun, ever the creature of habit, orders the same black coffee and warmed up croissant for the 12 months he’s come to the cafe.

“My mom asked about you again,” you stalled for a second as he bought up the words, seemingly innocent and nonchalant, before continuing to pour his coffee. “She was asking if you would find her a bother if she called you.”

“Not at all,” Your smile is civil, the carefully carved simply curve of your lips you’ve perfected over months, as you hand him his coffee. “You know I love talking to your mom.” A silence falls over you both as you grab a croissant and turn around to the oven, neither of you knowing how to continue this conversation. “Uh, so how’s practice going? Taeyong mentioned you guys are performing at MAMA?” 

He coughs, using the sleeve of his hoodie to dry his hair. “Yeah, it’s going good. It’s a bit difficult cause they’re trying to get all the units to perform, and then they want us to perform together. But hey, that’s what we get for the never ending members concept.” 

“Yeah, I guess so” you laugh and you’re both thinking about the same thing. 

[“Okay, okay, okay, wait, explain this to me one more time.” You’re currently sitting on Jaehyun’s lap, arms thrown lazily around his neck as he attempts to explain NCT. 

“Okay, so NCT means Neo Culture Technology, and basically we have an unlimited number of members.” You nod, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. “NCT U stands for United, which means that the members change based on the concept. NCT 127 is the fixed group, and it’s based in Seoul because Seoul is where K-pop started. NCT Dream is with all the underage members, and they stay in Dream until they become adults.”

“And then they graduate to NCT U? Or NCT 127?” 

“Or WayV,” he nods, smiling as he kisses your neck. “See, that wasn’t so hard. I didn’t even need to get Doyoung’s chart.” You both dissolve into a mess of laughter, and Jaehyun leans up to press more kisses up your neck, your jawline, and eventually meeting your lips. ]

“Um, here’s your croissant, and your drink. That’s $4.55, you can swipe your card.” He nods with a sip of his drink and takes the bag with the pastry before swiping his card. “Okay, you’re good. Uh, I’ll see you later.”  

“Yeah, I’ll see you at home.Oh, thanks for the eggs.” He waves one more time and you pretend to go back to work as his car pulls out. Home. 

“You have it baddd,” Hana says singsongedly, earning another flick. 

***

It hasn’t stopped raining all day. What was drizzling became a steady downpour that’s lasted the entirety of your shift. Groaning as you slip on your jacket, you wave bye to Hana. She offered a ride, but you’re aware her house is in the complete opposite direction and that would just waste her time. 

The store awnings provide some cover as you walk down the street, your jacket getting slightly drenched as you walk rapidly through the gaps between them. You haven’t made it too far down the street when you stop, surprise turning you into a statue. Jaehyun’s walking towards you, umbrella in hand. “What are you doing out here?” You ask, trying to hide your shivering. 

“I went home and saw you left your umbrella there. You think I was gonna let you walk home in this rain?” You can’t stumble out a response before he grabs your hand. “Come on, my car’s just around the corner.” 

It’s so quiet the walk to the car and all you can think about is that he’s still holding your hand. “I could have gone home with Hana, you didn’t have to drive out here.” 

“Hana lives on the other side of town, I knew you weren’t going to bother her for it. And it’s not a bother, really. I was done with everything anyway.” He opens your door before crossing to the other side and getting in. There’s towels laid across both seats and he pulls another from the backseat. “Dry yourself off, you’ll get sick if you stay like that.” 

“The subway station really wasn’t that far,” you mutter as you pat your hair dry. “I could have walked fine.” 

“Just- just let me do something nice for you, hm? To repay you for the eggs, let’s see it as that.” 

“It wasn’t a favor this morning. I just had extra eggs.” 

“Okay, then let me do nice things because I feel like it, okay?” But it isn’t your job to do nice things for me anymore, you want to say but you don’t, biting your lip instead and looking out the window. You’re both quiet until you hit a red light and Jaehyun’s phone lights up. Incoming call from Eun-i. His hands tighten around the wheel as he picks up, you pretending not to pay attention.  “Hi. Oh yeah, sure. Yeah, I’ll see you there. Okay. No, that’s fine. Great. Okay, see you later.” 

“Who’s that?” You ask, trying to sound casual. Isn’t being okay with him seeing other girls a good step in moving on? Then why is there such a weird feeling in your stomach? 

“Uh, some girl Johnny knows, he’s been bugging me to go out with her, says she won’t get off his back about it. You’re not upset, are you?” 

“No, of course not, Jaehyun. Why would I be upset?” Maybe something in your tone is off because he just sighs. 

“I don’t know, Y/N. We don’t really get the time to talk, since you’ve been leaving so early and coming back so late at night just to avoid me.” 

“I have to open the shop early,” you deflect, heart beating as you still avoid his eyes. “And my study group ends late.” 

“Bull.” Months of pent up feelings are coming out as the light turns green. “You leave on weekends, holidays, days when I know you don’t have class and when you don’t have shifts at the cafe.” 

“I- I don’t know, what do you want me to say? I’m scared I’m going to say something or you’re going to say something that brings the both of us 6 months back and we only feel more awkward around each other and I just-” not knowing what to say, you stop, resting your head in your palms. “I just want to go back to being friends.” 

“I don’t know how we can with both of us scared of taking the next step.” The car pulls into the parking lot in front of the apartment and Jaehyun unlocks the doors. “Y/N-” but you’re already out of the car, fumbling for the keypad as you punch the code in. 

Still sitting in the seat, Jaehyun sighs and rests his head on the wheel. 

***

It’s late. The ticking hands on the clock are nearing midnight, and instead of being in bed, you’re curled up on the couch with a glass of red wine. Jaehyun left a few hours back for his date and the nerves after your fight and the small pit in your stomach had made it impossible for you to sleep. Hopefully the wine would make you drowsy. 

How did things get so fucked up? Tracing your finger along the rim of your glass, a tear crawls down your cheek in your drunken state. You both used to love each other, you used to be able to talk about anything and everything. 

[“Do you ever wonder why we respect the dead more than the living?” You raise your eyebrow, trying not to laugh as Jaehyun, drunk off his ass, continues to talk. “No like, really, if I died today, wouldn’t people start thinking nicer things about me? Like Mark wouldn’t bitch about that time I ate his sandwich, he’d be like “Man, Jaehyun was, like, so cool, R.I.P.” 

“I’m sorry, did you just do an impression of Mark mourning your death, and he said R.I.P.?” He just shrugs and you can’t stop the laughter, getting up to grab the glass of water on the nightstand. Jaehyun, however, has other ideas. 

“Nooooo, where are you going?” Grabbing your arm, he pulls you onto the mattress and wraps his arms around you. 

“I’m just grabbing you water, dummy, you’re head’s gonna hurt from all that drinking.” 

“How are you so smart?” He awes, eyes wide as they follow your movements. You just laugh, the sound reverberating off the walls of your bedroom as he drinks the water and pulls you back down. ]

Your relationship was so- full. That’s the only way you can describe what you felt with him. Complete, whole, your heart brimming with love for this man who held your entire heart in his hand. 

From the couch, you can hear the front door open and wipe your tear quickly, taking another sip of your wine. “You’re home early,” you try to be casual as Jaehyun walks in, slipping his shoes off and taking off his coat. 

“Yeah. Date was a disaster, I’m going to kill Johnny- is that wine?” 

You smile as you grab the bottle and pour yourself another glass. “There’s glasses in the cabinets.” 

*** Many many many glasses of wine that were definitely over the recommended amount later, you and Jaehyun are both tipsy as all hell. “Re-remember that time you fell into Mark’s pool?” He stumbles out, cheeks flushed red from laughter. You nod, equally flushed as drunk tears pooled in your eyes from the heavy laughter the last anecdote he bought up had caused. “Well-well it wasn’t really an accident, Doyoung made a bet with Yuta that he could kick the cap off a water bottle, but he missed, fell back, and accidentally pushed you in.” 

“Motherfucker, I’m gonna kill him!” Laughter strikes you both again, followed by a semi-awkward silence. “I’m- I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, Jaehyun,” you hiccuped, downing the rest of your wine. “I just- figured it’d be easier for the both of us.” 

“No, it’s okay, I get why.” He follows suit in finishing off his wine. “Our situation isn’t necessarily ideal.”  

“You can say that again,” you top of both of your glasses and clink them together, taking a heavy sip of your own. “I just realized, we haven’t talked this much since- since..” 

“Since- since we broke up,” Jaehyun finishes for you, brushing his hair back as his words slur. You just nod, averting your eyes at the mention. “I never apologized for that.” 

“For not talking?” 

“No, for the breakup. I was always too busy, and I didn’t know how to manage my time and I just shoved you to the side-” 

“Shut up, Jaehyun. You can’t cast all the blame on yourself, we both did things- said things we’re not that proud of.” 

“Can I tell you a secret?” You nod and he leans in, as if to whisper it into your ear. “I love you, Y/N.” And suddenly, the safe space of your couch and your wine glasses becomes surprisingly hostile as the red lights begin to flash. Jaehyun still loves you, and you’re oh so drink to say something reasonable.

“I love you too, Jae,” you confess out loud, your fast-beating heart skipping a beat as Jaehyun leans forward, an arm wrapping around your waist. “Jae-” 

“Just let me make up for lost time.” His lips connect to yours as he pulls you onto his lap, hands bunching up the material of your t-shirt as he plants his hands on your back. Your fingers thread through his hair as you pull him closer, moaning as he tugs on your bottom lip. “Can we- can we go to our room?” 

Our room. A room the two of you haven’t shared in months. A brief thought passes through your subconscious that you’re going to regret something in the morning, but still, you nod. 

***

You know what you’re going to regret as you wake up in your old shared bedroom, Jaehyun’s arms wrapped around your bare waist and a splitting headache thumping against your head. You can feel his shallow breaths, warm, against your shoulder as his head rests in the crook of your neck and his bare chest against your back. 

You slept with an ex. Not just any ex, Jung Jaehyun, the boy who you were sure you would love for your whole life and the boy who broke your heart and whose heart you broke yourself. 

How can you two even look at each other now, knowing that those old feelings are still there? How can you live under the same roof as Jaehyun knowing that he, too, wants to be more than exes, more than acquaintances, roommates, friends, again? 

You rest your hands on his and slowly undrape them from around you, slipping out of bed. He wrinkles his nose at the loss of warmth, bundling the blankets over his body in his sleep. 

[“Nooo,” Jaehyun whines as you try to slip out of bed. “Stay, call in sick or something.” 

“You big baby.” you chuckle, sitting up and throwing your legs over the side of the bed. Jaehyun comes up behind you and wraps his arms around you as you throw on a shirt. “It’s almost Christmas, and I’d like to prove to my manager that I should get a holiday bonus.” 

“Come on,” he moans again, pressing open kisses to the back of your neck. “Stay a bit late, I’ll make you breakfast? Give you a ride to work? Be your first customer?” 

You laugh, semi-dressed and roll back over on bed to straddle his lap, cupping his cheeks. “Get ready with me now, then, and you can get all of those things.” 

“Princess, it’s hard to cuddle someone when you’re driving.” 

“You wound me, Mr. Jung, am I only here for cuddles?” 

“Practically-oof.” You throw a pillow at him, laughing as he falls back. “Okay, now you’re going to get it.” ]

That’s how things used to be, you chastise yourself, grabbing your clothes and sneaking out to your bedroom to get dressed. 

Jaehyun, the note today reads. Hana needs help opening up today. I’ll see you later. Sausages and eggs in the fridge.

***

“NO,” Hana whisper-yells as you finish your story. “Damn, I knew you two would hook up again one day, but damn, that’s a lot to take in.” 

The overhead lights of the cafe make you wince and rub your temples, wondering when the painkillers you hurriedly took in the morning will kick in. “I shouldn’t have gotten drunk, I shouldn’t have let him get drunk, I shouldn’t have said I love you back-” 

“Woah woah woah woah woah woah woah,” Hana claps a hand over your mouth, disbelief etched in her eyes. “You and Jaehyun are literally the best couple, do you know how sad we all were when you broke up? You guys made each other so happy, and y’all have been miserable the past months, so what’s the hesitation now?” 

“If we could break each other’s hearts 6 months ago, what’s stopping us this time?” Hana opened her mouth, then closed it. “I- I’m trying to keep Jaehyun in my life, no matter how platonic that has to be. If we try again and we end up like this or worse? I don’t know-” 

The door opens with the ring of the bell and Jaehyun walks in, keeping his sunglasses on as he too avoids the gaze of the lights and sits at the counter. Your heart thuds as you grab a cup and the coffee pot. “Morning,” you try to greet, pouring his cup.  “You left again this morning,” he leaves no room for pleasantries, taking the glasses off. 

“I had to open the shop early, did you read my note?” 

“Stop giving me that shit, Y/N, we should have talked about last night,” 

“It was a mistake, I know Jaehyun, can we just move on?” 

“Mistake?” He winces as he looks you in the eye. “What the fuck, Y/N, it wasn’t a mistake to me, I-” 

“We were drunk and reminiscing, it shouldn’t have happened.” 

“No, I’m glad it did. You told me you loved me. I don’t know about you, but when I said it, I was telling the truth.” Your lips are pursed as you say nothing, and he scoffs, reaching for your wrist. “Come outside with me,” with no time to argue, he pulls you outside the shop. “What’s the problem? Are we just going back to you avoiding me again?” 

“No,” you shake your head, looking at your feet. “I’m gonna look for a place.”

“What?” Your response catches him off guard. “Why?” 

“Because- because I can’t live with you without wanting things to be more than what they are now. Without wanting them to be like they used to be.” 

“Then let them be like they used to be,” he pleads, taking your hand. “I love you, Y/N. Breaking up with you has been one of my biggest regrets, and if you want things to be like they used to be, let’s be together again.” 

“No, Jaehyun, it’s-” you try to calm your breathing, running your hands down the front of your apron. “Before we broke up, I was so in love and naive, I thought that we would be together forever, I trusted myself implicitly with your heart, and vice verse, but Jae- our breakup? It wasn’t good, it was messy and we both fucked up with each other, so knowing that we have the capability to break each other’s hearts? It makes me terrified of trying this again.” 

“You can’t know exactly what’s going to happen, Y/N,” he sighs, rubbing his eyes. “But you have to remember we’d be going into this knowing all the mistakes we made the last time. You can’t be sure with love, but all we can really do is try our best to make things work.” 

“I- oh god, what if it goes worse this time?” 

“It won’t. I know you, you won’t let it get that bad, and speaking for myself, I’ll do anything I can to avoid that.” His fingers lace through yours, squeezing your hand. “Be mine again. Stop leaving so early in the morning, come back to our room, just- stop trying to get away from me, because I’m not letting go.” 

Your silence seems disheartening, and he turns around to go back inside. But it isn’t until he grabs the door handle that he stumbles slightly, from the force of your hug as you wrap your arms around him from behind. “Okay,” your voice is shaky as you nod, head buried in his back. “Let’s try this again.” 

And he’s whirling around to pick you up in a bone crushing hug, tears building up in the corners of both of your eyes as he spins you around, setting you back down to kiss you. And the kiss, and his hands cupping your face and the way his lips are forming a smile against yours, it fills you with a sort of warmth, a sense of safety that you haven’t felt for 6 months. 

The way you feel toward Jung Jaehyun will never go away. He’ll always be yours, there will always be a space in your heart reserved for him no matter how complicated things are or the hard feelings you both share. 

Inside the store, Hana shoots you a wink, making a shooing motion to tell you to take the rest of the day off. Lacing your fingers through Jaehyun’s, you pull him down the street, just as you both used to do, running around Seoul together with the simple comfort of each other. 

#nct #nct u #nct jaehyun #jung yoonoh #jung jaehyun #jaehyun #jaehyun x reader #fanfiction #nct fanfiction #reader insert #jung jaehyun x reader #jaehyun fanfiction #nct jaehyun x reader #jung yoonoh x reader #y/n #x reader #nct jung jaehyun x reader

[kiruuuuu]

Siegemas Day 24

Happy holidays everyone, it’s me again! I stepped in for this day :) Once again, thank you @dualrainbow​, this event is a delight 💝💝

Today, my prompt is the very first line of the fic you find below. I hope you all enjoy it, and have a wonderful time no matter what or whether you’re celebrating! ✨ (Twitch/IQ, Rating T, fluff + emotional comfort, ~2.8k words)

.

“We made… too many cookies.”

The comedic timing is impeccable, the line delivered with perfect hesitance as to imply awareness of the understatement while hiding its undoubtedly practised nature. She’s a born people person with a knack for being charmingly endearing, and IQ is absolutely and horrifically powerless.

“This is ridiculous”, she states, deadpan, not giving away how amused she is in reality – it’s not often that she opens the door to a stunning young woman with pretty cheekbones tinted pink from the cold outside, clad in a flattering deep purple coat and holding several tin boxes in gloved hands. Patterned gloves, a row of snowflakes adorning the fabric. A very familiar row of snowflakes.

“I know, and I’m really sorry, but I don’t know anyone else who’d appreciate these.” Her hair is laid in neat waves framing her pale freckled face, light make-up completing the elegant look. She could be a film star, certainly possesses the same unselfconscious attitude one would expect, even though she’s displaying embarrassment right now. Her slim figure hugged tightly by her form-fitting clothes is visible clearly despite the frankly laughable amount of cookie tins and IQ can’t help herself.

She invites her in.

Twitch is a waterfall, bubbling excitedly about how or why she came across certain recipes, casually throwing in a French or German word amidst the usual English, and it’s impossible for IQ to follow her but she smiles and nods anyway while relieving her visitor of her cargo and placing it gingerly on the kitchen table. So far, this last Sunday before Christmas – the fourth Advent, as it’s called in her mother tongue – had been almost serene, began with chores and continued with a quiet cup of coffee and a good book before slowly tilting over into planning and researching for her next chapter. A regular occurrence. As a result, IQ is mentally somewhere else still and needs a few minutes before she can concentrate on her unexpected guest.

“Good to see you”, she chimes in during a small pause (wouldn’t you know it, even Twitch needs to breathe), and the two of them hug as a greeting. Twitch always gives her a good squeeze, really presses the two of them together, which is one of the reasons IQ looks forward to meeting her every day: it makes her feel appreciated. No one else comes close to these embraces, not Blitz, her decade-old friend, or even her own siblings. In Twitch’s arms, she closes her eyes and finds peace for a brief second.

It might be the absence of her family which has left her this sentimental – normally, she’s too busy to analyse her friends, to scrutinise them to this amount, but today an odd sort of nostalgia and possible bout of loneliness has overtaken her. She did light four candles on her wreath, the first one almost burnt out completely from being lit on all the previous Sundays, yet instead of providing warm illumination, it caused subtle brooding. Their house was always lively around Christmas, bustling with fights, pretend fights, singing, louder singing, future plans yelled through the staircase, raucous laughter, and various songs on repeat trying to drown each other out.

Here, in her small apartment in England, the silence felt foreboding.

“I tried my hand at spéculoos, which Marius called a German staple, and let me tell you – the dough I had was a nightmare to work with, much too sticky. I wanted to roll it out and use Julien’s cookie cutters but it wouldn’t cooperate, so you now have small poop piles of what I think you call Spekulatius. It’s in the blue tin, right on top there. I also made vanilla… uh, vanilla croissants? Shaped like moons? They’re Dom’s favourites, apparently, and Gilles begged me to help him, but he got the recipe wrong and we got so many that he just gave me half. Elias really wanted pain d’épices, um, spicy bread? No, gingerbread, that was it. You guys have the best name for it, by the way, Lebkuchen, it makes it sound like you’re Frankenstein: live, cake!”

Twitch somehow manages to wander through the flat while babbling on, accepting a cup of lukewarm coffee IQ puts in her hands and instinctively helping to pick a few cookies from each box to create an inviting-looking decorative paper plate which IQ carries into the living room where they settle down, fingers curled around warmed ceramic and eyes gleaming in the candlelight.

“You need to try these, it’s actually one of James’ mum’s recipes. Poppyseed and chocolate, they turned out better than expected, but after Liza told that story about her acquaintance failing a drug test because of poppyseed bagels, people refused to eat more than one and I definitely can’t stomach all of these alone.”

She watches, expectantly, as IQ dutifully picks out one of the spotted cookies shaped like a flower and bites into the crumbly bakeware. Surprising no one, it’s delicious – if there’s anything Twitch can’t do, IQ hasn’t found it yet.

“Really good”, she agrees, allowing for Twitch’s instant beaming smile to tug the corners of her own mouth upwards while she chews. “Manu, these all look lovely. You know I’d die for good Christmas cookies, so thank you. Even though this is way too much for me.”

Her laugh is melodic and as contagious as her constant sunny mood. “You should see how many I still have at home. Elias claimed he needs to watch his figure, Julien should be watching his figure, Doc doesn’t really like sweets, and Gilles eats maybe one cookie a day. Which you know is illegal at Christmastime.”

“Still, this is a wonderful present and I’m afraid I have nothing to give in return.” IQ isn’t being entirely honest. Still testing the waters; maybe Twitch will manage to read between the lines and they can finally address it. The moment the Frenchwoman stepped over the threshold was the moment IQ decided they’d talk it through today. It’s been going on long enough.

“Not true, you gave me the gloves!” Twitch’s triumphant gotcha! expression is self-satisfied and smug and sweet. Sweeter than the cookies calling to IQ – they really do look fantastic, a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, all together smelling of spices and memories and Christmas.

“Someone had to, you kept complaining about your icy fingers.”

“And you were probably sick of warming them up.” Twitch hasn’t caught on yet, her tone is still breezy and carefree. “Have you written some more? Any new scenes for me to read? I need to know whether the captain really is dead or not.”

IQ laughs, half embarrassed and half delighted – when the news broke in Rainbow that she writes stories in her spare time, she expected an outcome way worse than what she ended up facing: Castle immediately expressed interest in reading them, no matter the topic, and once word got out that it was usually science-fiction-centric, even more people approached her out of curiosity. None of them as enthusiastic as Twitch, however, who dove into the narratives like an age old fan into new material, sparking an unknown productivity in IQ which has yet to subside. Knowing there’s at least one person who devours anything she dreams up has been fantastically motivating, and they’ve begun spinning yarn together now and then. Twitch is the only one whom she trusts enough to proofread for scientific errors or inconsistencies, and she’s helped develop a character into a much more compelling version of themselves several times.

The next hour is spent on discussing IQ’s research, involving frantic googling and article hopping on Wikipedia to help with finding the correct jargon – Twitch knows most of the technical terms in French, which doesn’t mesh well with IQ’s rusty school French, whereas her German accent makes it difficult for the other woman to understand her, so they try to meet in the middle somewhere by using English, despite the laborious process involved.

They’re on one wavelength. Always have been, from the moment they came across each other in Rainbow’s workshop, when Twitch still dyed her hair auburn and IQ barely spoke a word with the other operators: a friendly smile, an engineering-related question, a brief introduction, and they were a house on fire. Inseparable at work.

Twitch made sure it bled into their private lives as well, even if it took considerable effort. IQ never asked, but she’s sure her friend secretly celebrated that one day when she finally said yes to one of her suggestions of meeting up.

.

And it’s exactly why it hurts so fucking much to think -

.

“Manu.”

Twitch stops talking mid-sentence, probably caught off guard by her serious tone of voice. “Yes? Is everything alright?”

It might be. She hopes it will be. Her fingers stray to a loose thread peeking out of the seam of her trousers, picking at it. “We’ve been friends for a while now.”

Several years, in fact, an unimaginably long time. Not that IQ hasn’t been able to keep friendships alive for this long, but never one this close. The level of intimacy usually kept declining after a certain point, usually prompted by nothing, sometimes spatial distance, sometimes emotional. There aren’t many people who keep up with her over a long time, and even fewer she keeps up with – Blitz is a great friend, but he just doesn’t share her passions.

“And you’re one of the most generous people I know. Your first instinct when you have too many cookies is to give them away. I’ve always admired this about you.”

Twitch is listening intently. She knows something is up, yet can’t put her finger on it. Her brows are furrowed. IQ knows this from a brief glance before her gazed drops back down to her restless fingers.

“Julien and I had a conversation about you, not too long ago. And some of what he said was… unexpected.” Rustling; Twitch is beginning to fidget as well. “Unrelated to that, Dom overheard you voicing your frustration about your being single and mentioned it to me. I didn’t know you were that unhappy. You never said anything.”

She really likes you. Yeah, don’t wave me off. I’ve never seen her fawn over someone like this. You get special treatment all the time.

And then, more poignant: At this point, I’m basically ready to fuck anything that moves.

The second quote echoes in her mind as if she’d heard it herself instead of it being delivered second-hand. Both of them made her look back at the past months and re-evaluate some events. Showed them in a very different light.

Twitch is radiating anxiousness. It’s easy to pick up.

“I realise now that I’ve received a lot of special attention from you, and… I just have to wonder.” It’s harder and harder to push the words out, her throat closing up. “Wonder whether your present today is cookies and friendship, or cookies and a confession, or cookies and an expectation. Whether there’s some kind of motive attached.”

Her entire life, there’s never been anyone outside her family who understood her better. Being a woman in a male dominated field is difficult enough, especially as a competitive one, and her experiences aren’t easily conveyed to her guy colleagues – Twitch understands, of course, has faced the same obstacles and prejudices. Seeking patterns everywhere, striving for excellence, despising complacency, the overwhelming need to reverse engineer anything new or remarkable, exploring new places, wanting to always keep moving and improving – Twitch understands, has had a similar upbringing and equivalent goals.

They share almost everything at this point, have been on holidays together, mastered several projects with each other’s help, stayed up till sunrise because sleep was the inadequate alternative to exchanging ideas and pushing each other further than they’d go by themselves. Others have always tried to slow IQ down, force her to relax, take her mind off something she enjoyed chewing on, and it was infuriating.

All Twitch does is encourage her. Which paradoxically calms IQ more than any massage or empty-brained film ever could.

She doesn’t want to lose all this. Her chest hurts with the pressure of potentially losing someone this dear to her. But at the same time, she doesn’t want Twitch to get the wrong idea.

When silence is all she receives, she looks up to find Twitch fighting for composure – wide eyes filled with moisture and lip quivering. It’s a stab in the guts. IQ has never seen her cry.

“I don’t -”, Twitch chokes out, adding more quietly: “This isn’t -”

IQ sits next to her, reaching out but retreating when Twitch shakes her head, so all she does is take her hand. As always, her fingers are cold, so IQ closes her own around them. This isn’t at all what she intended, but she needs to know.

“Your friendship means the world”, comes a much more composed statement after a minute. “You should know this.”

She nods. She does know.

“And – and yes, if there was more, I’d be happy. Even happier than I am now. But there doesn’t need to be.” Twitch is speaking faster now, rushing the words, her melodic French accent thickening. “I’m fine with everything staying the way it is. I love being around you, no matter how, so if you’re not okay with – with anything else, it’s fine. I’m fine. I’ll get over it, no worries.”

“Manu. Breathe.” Seeing the other woman in a panic is a rare sight and IQ doesn’t enjoy knowing she’s the cause. “I love being around you, too. You’re my best friend, by far. But… I don’t want anything casual.”

Twitch needs a moment to digest this and IQ readies her responses: she’s had bad experiences with it in the past, and as far as she knows, arrangements like friends with benefits tend to make everything messy and awkward. Staying friends is the better option.

“Yes. Me neither.” A beat. Their eyes meet, Twitch’s still glistening.

There is an even better option, as far as IQ is concerned. And it seems to slowly dawn on the nearly perfect woman next to her.

“And… what about something not casual? But still more?”

Oh. The pressure begins to lift off her chest with every passing second, with every second that Twitch stares at her, hopeful, unsure. Slowly, she clarifies: “You mean – cookies and a confession?”

The nod is nearly imperceptible, and IQ probably almost breaks her fingers by squeezing so hard. The next thing she knows is she’s leaning forward and pressing their lips together, tasting the saltiness of perceived rejection as well as the disbelieving smile of actual acceptance, and then Twitch is laughing as well, crying in between relieved giggling, almost hysterical, and IQ joins in, and before they know it, they’re a mess on the sofa, hugging, seeking physical contact, pressing kisses to temples and hair and cheeks and lips again, wrapping arms around warm bodies.

Her heart is singing because while she so fiercely hoped, she barely dared to, was used to disappointments and therefore expected the worst, even ascribed traits to her best friend in the whole world who’d never stoop so low as to demand something from her she wasn’t ready to give. No, Twitch understands her and vice versa. Even so, it took them an embarrassingly long time to get to this point. In their shared joyousness, they barely manage to finish their sentences:

“What Dom heard me say wasn’t, I mean, I was just -”

“Yes, I figured, but it still got me thinking -”

“I was having a bad day, I’m not that frustrated -”

“Oh? That’s a shame, you know, I was actually looking forward to -”

“Monika!”, Twitch exclaims, scandalised even though they’re both aware IQ is joking, and by now they’re laughing like mad, especially because Twitch only uses her full name when she’s done something, so IQ resorts to tickling her in retaliation or maybe to distract her, and they both yelp when Twitch’s foot shoots up, gets caught on the rim of the cookie plate peeking over the coffee table’s edge, and catapults its contents everywhere. One manages to hit IQ in the face, the rest is scattered all over the floor, which sets them off again after a second of total silence.

“It’s fine, it’s fine”, Twitch gets out in between breaths, “I really do have tons more at home.” Which IQ believes her in a heartbeat.

Even though she’s pretty sure she got the lion’s share of the leftovers.

And just a second before they notice that the napkin on which the cookies were presented has caught fire, IQ thinks about how she dreaded spending Christmas at Hereford without her family – and she realises now she’ll be in great company regardless.

#rainbow six siege #twitch #iq #twitch/iq #fanfic #oneshot #siegemas #this is the last couple perfecting my quartet of german/french ships #check out their new bios btw #in my head they fit so so so well together #I'm looking forward to reading all the entries I've missed!! #I hope I'll have more time after Christmas

[onewhoturns]

100 truths?

edit: fuck! forgot to mention I was tagged by @mocarro

1.) Real name: Turner 2.) Nicknames: Turner? 3.) Zodiac Sign: *sigh*  4.) Male or Female: (>.> not gonna include nb/gq/ag stuff? really? let’s fix that) 4.) Gender: female 5.) Nursery: the fuck does this mean, I’m painfully american 6.) Primary School: I did that, part private part public, G&T program (I’d regret it, but most of my teachers were good and I was comfortable being a complete nerd) 7.) Secondary School: not as good as primary, but that was mostly internal stuff, no bullying or anything 8.) Hair Color: dark brown 9.) Long or Short: used to be down to my lower back, now it’s shoulder length 10.) Loud or Quiet: loud. I tend to have difficulty regulating my volume, but have definitely gotten better about it now that I’m an adult and I’m more aware of it (also thanks to helpful feedback from friends, family, housemates etc) 11.) Sweats or Jeans: pj pants. or jeans. 12.) Phone or Camera: phone 13.) Health Freak: nah 14.) Drink or Smoke: occasionally drink (twice a month? ish? not very often at all, and when I do it’s small amounts. don’t think I’ve had any alcohol since... february? not trying to abstain, just not big on it unless it tastes good) 15.) Do You Have A Crush On Someone: nope 16.) Political orientation: uhhhhhh liberal I guess? I’d say it without reservation but I’m sure someone could jump down my throat about “the liberals” and I’m over here just like lgbtq+ rights, affordable college tuition, affordable health care, etc.  17.) Piercings: had my ears pierced for all of 6 months but as soon as I took out the studs they closed up before I could put in another pair. yeah. so... no. 18.) Tattoos: nah. thought about it, but nah. HAVE YOU EVER [BEEN IN]: 19.) Airplane: several times 20.) Car *Accident*: i guess? just a fender bender 21.) Fist Fight: nope, i’m weak af and not interested in physical confrontation FIRSTS: 22.) First piercing: ears 23.) First Best Friend: a girl named Beth in first grade, probably. but then I left after second, so never saw her again. 24.) First Instrument played: I’m sure I took piano lessons at some point. but did flute 5-6th grade. 25.) First award: I dunno, probably some participation award or something 26.) First Crush: Julio in kindergarten, apparently XD 27.) First Language: english. 28.) First Big Vacation: we went to maine all the time all through my primary school years LASTS: 29.) Last Person you talked to: out loud? grocery store cashier 30.) Last Person You Texted: if we’re counting discord @bloodofthepen, otherwise probably my mom. if we’re not counting discord but are counting messenger then my coworker/manager 31.) Last Person You Watched: watching jacksepticeye play observation atm 32.) Last Food You Ate: pirate’s booty 32.) Last Movie You Watched: uhhhhhhhhhhhh i dunno. just marathoned what we do in the shadows, though (tv show, not movie) 34.) Last Song You listened to: On Your Way - the Album Leaf 35.) Last Thing You Bought: groceries 36.) Last Person You Hugged: coworker on his last day saturday FAVES: 37.) Food: chocolate croissant maybe? idk, i like a lot of foods. burrata maybe. 38.) Drinks: water (boring, whatever) 39.) Clothing: pj pants and hoodies 40.) Book: His Dark Materials 41.) Color: no fave, really, though I do tend to ask for green for my discord color 42.) Flower: no fave cause I know nothing about flowers. 43.) Music: the Decemberists are up there, as is Death Cab For Cutie and Darlingside 44.) Movie: too many faves. here’s the top ten in no order. 46.) Subjects: psych

IN THE PAST YEAR I… 47.) [ ] Kissed in the rain 48.) [ ] Celebrated Halloween. 49.) [ ] Had Your Heart Broken 50.) [ ] Went Over the Minutes on Your Cell Phone 51.) [x] Someone Questioned Your Sexual Orientation. (tbf it was one of these ask meme things, and it wasn’t questioned as much as asked) 52.) [ ] Used a Weapon 53.) [ ] Breathed fire 54.) [ ] Had an Abortion 55.) [x] Done something you’ve Regretted   56.) [x] Broke a Promise 57.) [x] Kept a Secret 58.) [x] Pretended To Be Happy 59.) [ ] Met Someone Who Changed Your Life 60.) [ ] Pretended To Be Sick 61.) [ ] Left The Country 62.) [ ] Tried something you normally wouldn’t like, and liked it. 63.) [x] Cried Over The Silliest Thing 64.) [ ] Ran a Mile 65.) [x] Went To the Beach 66.) [x] Stayed Single CURRENTLY: 67.) Eating: gonna have some more pirate’s booty when I’m done typing 68.) Drinking: water 69.) Getting Ready To: stay up too late watching or listening to videos or podcasts or maybe playing a game who knows 70.) Listening To: nothing right this second, but I was listening to part four of Film Reroll’s ET game earlier 71.) Plans For Tomorrow/Today: first day off in a week, gonna sleep a lot and maybe wash my hair 72.) Waiting For: sleep YOUR FUTURE: 73.) Want Kids: nah 74.) Want To Get Married: idk, maybe if i meet someone great 75.) Careers in minds: no clue, I’m somewhat bemused that I’m still alive WHICH IS BETTER ON A GIRL/GUY: (again blatant nb/gq/ag exclusion) ON A PERSON/PARTNER: 76.) Lips or Eyes: uhhhh depends. probably lips? 77.) Shorter or Taller: not much of a preference, but probably taller just cause i’m already quite short 78.) Romantic or Spontaneous: (I’m really not a person to ask these questions, I have so little opinion on this sort of thing) probably spontaneous? I’m super adhd and also super depressed, and novelty is good for me. 79.) Nice Stomach or Nice Arms: (another question I have no strong opinions on-- and am not a huge fan of tbh) lately I’ve been a sucker for ladies with nice arms 80.) Sensitive or Loud: knowing when to be one or the other 81.) Hook-up Or Relationship: fwb/casual relationship 82.) Troublemaker or Hesitant: neither? confident but not a dick for the sake of making trouble. self-aware. HAVE YOU EVER: 83.) Lost Glasses/Contacts: don’t wear glasses but i’ve lost sunglasses before 84.) Ran Away From Home: no 85.) Held A Weapon, For Self Defense: nope 86.) Killed Somebody: who would admit to this? 87.) Broken Someone’s Heart: maybe. i’ve definitely turned people down before, and based on their reactions maybe. 88.) Been Arrested: no DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 90.) Yourself: I mean, I exist. I’m relatively confident about some things, and quite pessimistic and self-defeating about others 91.) Miracles: meh. not really. 92.) Love at First Sight: nah. interest for sure, and chemistry, but not full-on love 93.) Heaven: nope 94.) Santa Claus: nah (also: atheist jew, so not really my bag to begin with) 95.) Easter Bunny: nope (see above) 96.) Magic: hm, not per se, but there are so-called witches out there that I think can definitely affect their own lives and therefor the lives of others with the actions they take in the name of magic (so more of a “be the change you wish to see in the world” sort of thing than a love potion or lucky charm sort of thing. i guess i believe in the power of magic to individuals rather that magic on it’s own) ANSWER TRUTHFULLY: 97.) Is There One Person You Wanna Be With, Right Now: ehhhh not really 98.) Are You Seriously Happy With Where You Are, In Life: no, but there’s not anywhere else I can see myself either 99.) Are You Happy With The Person You’re With: no one? yeah, pretty okay with it. not interested in looking for anything else, anyway. 100.) Post as 100 Truths and Tag five People: @iron-moon @bloodofthepen @artemis-crimson @hirvitank @artabria (no pressure, and if anyone else wants to do it go for it)

#personal #tag meme #long post