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dameronology · 3 years

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pancakes & promises {finnick odair}

ok i don’t normally write for the hunger games but here is some morning fluff for 2 of my faves, @karasong & @megmeg-chan (based on meg’s request). i hope you enjoy💕

warnings: none...except swearing

The mornings were always one of Finnick’s favourite times.

Things were quiet; calm and quell, worlds away from his hectic past and tainted memories. Finnick was never without a charming smile or flirty comment but behind his endearing exterior, there was a vortex of dark memories. The warm blue eyes you often caught staring at you had seen worlds of pain. The large hands that were the source of half his affection had once wielded weapons. He’d become so used to the noise - of the arena, of the war, of his own thoughts - that the silence was almost strange. He’d spent years trying to escape it, trying to fill it with the sound of gentle music and white noise and the low fuzz of the radio but nothing had worked.

Then there was you. Between his arms underneath cover of the darks, head buried in his neck as you gently snored. The tickle of your breath against his bare skin and hands softly gripping onto his arms was an anchor. With your legs tangled underneath the sheets with his and your warmth beside him, he wasn’t afraid of the silence anymore. If anything, it was something he began to appreciate. It was a sign of change - change for the better. Most of which had been brought on your presence in his life. You were a barrier to the past, really. A definitive and constant existence intertwined with his that protected him from the bad parts of history. It was contained nicely in two parts: before you and after you. It was the latter he was so desperately holding onto, more than willing to throw the other into the abyss.

Finnick had woken that morning as usual; naturally, thanks to the sunlight leaking through the blinds. If you weren’t wrapped up in his arms, usually thanks to your tendency to roll away in the night, he’d reach out for you without thinking. Instead of being met with your warm skin, his fingers came into contact with the sheets. They were cold - you must have been gone a while. He immediately sat up, a frown etched on his features. You were never gone. Why were you gone?

Then he heard you - in the kitchen, kettle going and singing quietly. That was another thing he wasn’t used to: domesticity. Someone to look after him, instead of it constantly being the other way around. Finnick made a point to care for you and look out for you, and he would have done it even if you’d completely denied him of love, but you didn’t. It was a relationship of equals. And equals didn’t often come along in these times.

Wrapping the sheet around his waist, he slipped out of bed and padded through to the kitchen. You were stood by the cooker, his shirt hanging off of your shoulders and a song playing quietly on the radio.

It was one of those moments he couldn’t really explain; it was so simple, so domestic and sweet, but one he was happy to stay in forever. He’d experienced everything else in life - moments of heroic grandeur, moments of great loss - but somehow, it was the little things he wanted to hold onto. The sight of you in the morning; the smell of your body wash on your skin after a shower; the feeling of your soft hands tracing the scars that littered his skin. It was normal to remember all the big flashpoint moments, but what about all the tiny ones in between? The things that interconnected all the different eras of his life? Ones like this, where nothing in particular was happening, but that were so worth holding onto.

He leant against the door frame, watching you for a moment. Finnick didn’t want to disturb you - or maybe he wanted to savour the moment. He woke up to you every morning but he wanted to remember each and individual single day. That was something he’d come to learn, having been reminded of his mortality so many times. He’d be damned if he was going to hold onto the moments that made him stare death in the face and tell it to back the fuck down so many times.

The floor-boards beneath creaked slightly as he re-adjusted himself, causing you to jump slightly. You glanced over your shoulder at him, a smile playing on your lips as your eyes caught his. The morning sun was coming from through the kitchen window, pouring over you in a way that you made you seem almost other worldy. It was fitting, really.

‘G’morning.’ You greeted him through a mouthful of pancakes. ‘I made pancakes. Or I tried to make pancakes.’

His eyes followed your hand as you gestured up to the ceiling. There two or three half cooked pancakes stuck up there, clearly hanging on with all their might.

‘What’s with the splatters on the wall?’ Finnick raised an eyebrow at you.

‘Oh, those ones hit the ceiling fan.’ You bit your lip to suppress a laugh, eyes falling to the floor. You could feel your cheeks heating up his intense gaze, even as a grin broke across his face.

‘You never cook.’ Finnick said. He made his way over towards you, broad arms snaking around your waist as he pulled you into him. ‘The oven in this house is purely for decoration.’

‘I wanted to surprise you.’ You admitted. ‘I know you love pancakes and it’s been a while since we’d had them. Thought it might be a nice thing to wake up to.’

He could have sworn that his heart stopped at that. Finnick had spent so much of his life running from people, watching his own back and constantly looking over his shoulder. To have someone to actually do things for him, to (try and) cook for him with his favourite food in mind? The feeling was still entirely new to him. You were still entirely new to him. You did things for him without even thinking about just...because. Your love for him was reason enough.

A silence fell over you for a moment as he just stared at you, intense blue gaze holding your own. He still couldn’t believe that you were real, even with your hands resting on his shoulders and your presence right before his eyes. The funny thing was that it wasn’t like the moment was particularly special, or big, or even interesting. It was just you and him in the kitchen, something which was quite mundane, truth be told. But maybe that was it: the fact it was mundane. His entire life had been so fucking crazy, so filled with panic and blunder and change, that to have something constant enough to even be considered mundane? That in itself was extraordinary. You were extraordinary.

‘Hey.’ You gently brushed your hand over his cheek. ‘You’re staring.’

‘Yeah, I know. At you.’ He replied.

‘Okay, maybe let me rephrase that.’ You softly laughed. ‘Why are you staring?’

‘I just...’ he trailed off, biting his lip for a moment. ‘I just really love you.’

‘I love you too, Fin.’ You leant forwards, brushing your lips against his.

Finnick was a good kisser; you knew that better than anyone. Somehow, every kiss felt like your first. His lips were always soft, always warm and welcoming. That, paired with his hands on your hips and the way he ran them up and down your sides, was enough to make you forget the entire world around you. He was enough to make you forget the entire world around you. As far as you cared - and as far as you wanted to care - it was just you and him, and nobody else. You were the center of his universe and he wasn’t willing to let anybody else in.

‘Oh, shit.’ You suddenly pulled away when the pancake on the stove started to spit smoke. ‘This one was gonna be good! And you distracted me!’

‘Darling, I always distract you.’ His cocky grin returned as he leant against the counter beside you.

‘You were being so soft a minute ago.’ You quipped, jokingly rolling your eyes.

‘I can be both.’ He grabbed your arm, yanking you back towards him. He wrapped his arms around your waist,

‘I liked it when you were confessing your love for me.’ You softly murmured, pressing your forehead to his.

‘Want me to do it again?’

‘I certainly won’t complain.’

‘Okay.’ His grin faded to a thoughtful smile. ‘I love you so much that it’s almost overwhelming. In fact, it might be completely overwhelming but I don’t even mind.’

‘That’s better.’ You pressed another kiss to his lips. ‘And I love you too, so much that it is also almost overwhelming.’

‘Almost?’ Finnick quipped. ‘I’d argue I’m entirely overwhelming-’

‘- I also fell in love with your humbleness.’ You shot back.

‘I will accept your declaration of almost overwhelming love so long as you promise it’s forever.’ He replied. He knew how cheesy he was being, but it was one of the things he was good at.

‘Of course.’ You grinned. ‘Forever?’

‘Forever.’

#finnick odair x reader #finnick odair imagine #finnick odair fluff #finn odair imagines #finn odair x you #hunger games imagines #hunger games x reader

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biggest-stupidhead · 3 years

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I'm sorry for sending many requests 😭 but I saw something and I had to show you! I was reading about spellchecker mistakes and this popped up:

"Once, close to Christmas, I was wondering if we were going to work the day before, I asked “Hi boss, good afternoon. Are we going to have sex tomorrow? ”. He was on the second floor and you could hear his laughter in the entire office."

I thought it would be funny a levi x reader from that 😂 you pick if it's gonna be platonic or romantic!

ahhhh this is so funny I love it! Tbh it took me way too long to understand what was happening but now I get it and I think it’s so cute.

Summary: You make a typo in an email to your boss.

Word Count: 1.3K

You leaned back in your chair and swiveled around to look out at the snowy city. Fat flakes of snow were spiraling down from the sky, you felt like a little kid when that familiar excitement that came with a good snow gathered in your chest. It was nearly Christmas, a time that wasn't celebrated in your office, your boss, Levi was only just recently warming up to the idea of allowing a birthday party for him to be thrown. Behind his back you had heard the interns calling him a slew of mean names: Grinch, scrooge, and even comparing him to that scary neighbor in home alone. You hadn't said anything, simply because you knew that they weren't wrong, but also you knew that Levi was deeper than the front that he put on. You turned around and decided to get up and grab a cup of tea, and probably one for Levi too.

You had gotten to know him well over the past four years that you had worked under him. He was a particular man, who loathed small talk, coffee, you assumed he hated children, and he also hated parties. You had invited him over to your humble apartment once for a beer and movie night with Erwin, Hange, Mike, and Nanaba. He had surprisingly showed, but proceeded to complain and be an absolute sourpuss the whole evening. You marched out of your small office and into the even smaller kitchen, where you weren't surprised to find almost all of the interns.

They had been lagging behind their usual pace the past few weeks, most offices offered a few days off for the holidays, but Levi basically held the employees until Christmas day. The interns all collectively straightened up at your presence, you worked directly under Levi and they were always hyper aware around you incase you had loose lips. Thankfully for them, you were no snitch, you just wanted your afternoon tea. Eren shimmied out of your way as you reached for the burner, he was in the middle of tying his hair off of his face. Mikasa was surprisingly no where to be found, you knew she and Armin were the two good ones. Connie and Sasha returned to their game that they had been playing, a weird spin on rock paper scissors, you had seen them play it before. They used a bowl large enough to fit their head in and an empty bottle of pop. As soon as they both matched the sign, for example, scissors, one would grab the bowl and the other the bottle. The goal was to cover your head before your opponent could bash you over the head with the bottle. It was a loud game, but it kept them busy so you didn't complain. Jean was officiating as always, legs crossed and nose in a magazine as he gave out half-assed hum of approval or disapproval. You finished the tea and stalked back to your office to catch up on emails. You glanced at the calendar and found it to be only a mere week away from Christmas. You decided to shoot Levi an email and attempt to bargain for a few extra days off.

"Hey Levi, good afternoon, is there anything you need? I was just looking at the calendar and couldn't help but notice that your birthday is only a few days away! Crazy how time flies. Anyway, I just wanted to know if we were having sex on Thursday?"

-(Y/n) (L/n)

You pressed send and continued to scroll through your emails as per usual. No less than five minutes later, your door practically blew open when Levi stormed in, stormy eyes dark and clearly crankier than usual.

"Oh don't tell me you were just yelling at those poor-"

"Explain now." He snapped, slamming his hand down onto your desk. You didn't flinch, well accustomed to his fits of rage. However it was a bit concerning that it was aimed towards you.

"I...don't understand sir?" you were careful with your words as you looked up at him, once again swiveling in your chair to stand.

"The email (Y/n)" he sounded exhausted as he gestured towards your desktop.

“Oh...I know it was a bit of a long shot, but I had to ask.” You shrugged, still confused on why he was so upset. Levi growled and rounded your desk, he pushed you rather roughly back into your seat before shoving your chair aside and leaning over your computer. He clicked through your emails before opening the one that you had sent minutes prior. He reached back and hauled you back to your desk. His hand was gripping the back of your chair, causing the leather and wood to groan under the pressure he was applying. You looked up at him with concern written over your features.

“Levi?”

“Just read the damn email.” Levi growled as he glared at the screen. You sighed dramatically and turned your gaze to the screen, where you slowly and carefully reread the email. Levi watched your face closely as your eyes scanned the screen. You gasped when you realized that you had somehow replaced work with sex. You turned with a hand over your mouth to look up at him.

“Levi I swear I didn’t-”

“Oh no don’t double back on me now (Y/n)” Levi teased as he looked down at you with amusement sparking in his eyes.

“Please you have to understand-”

“No I understand just fine, you want to fuck your boss.” Levi hummed, hand still resting on the back of your chair.

“It was a typo.” you huffed stubbornly, of course you thought he was attractive, but you had never dared cross that line. You were surprised that Levi was being so playful on this matter, usually he was a stickler about in office relationships.

“Oh a typo.” Levi scoffed as he swiveled your chair to be facing him, you rolled your eyes trying to mask the flustered feelings that were threatening to come to the surface.

“Yes a typo.” You confirmed as his hand slid off the back of the chair in favor of resting on the arm of the seat, effectively caging you in.

“Well in that case...yes you can have Thursday off. But only if you get all that paperwork done before then.” Levi’s breath was fanning over your face, the lingering scent of tea and mint flooding your nose.

“Consider it done.” You assured him as you crossed your legs confidently and leaned back in the chair.

“And when I have the day off....we can go try out that new restaurant down the street.” You said boldly and Levi hummed in agreement.

“No plans for Christmas Eve then?” Levi inquired as he drummed his fingers on the arm rest.

“Levi...I don’t celebrate the holiday.” You couldn’t help but giggle at the way his face screwed into a confused expression.

“You asked for it off though?” Levi said slowly, not understanding why you were being to difficult.

“Yeah, my family celebrates it but...I just don’t really.” You shrugged and Levi glowered down at you.

“That’s not confusing at all.” Levi huffed sarcastically and you rolled your eyes.

“Maybe if you’re extra nice to me...I’ll tell you why I don’t celebrate the holiday.” You said with a sweet smile up at him.

“You don’t have to, I don’t celebrate it either.” Levi shrugged as he went to stand, you reached out, hoping to keep him close. You snagged him by the tie and brought him back into your space.

“So dinner on...Thursday then?” You hummed, tilting your head up to meet his eyes.

“Yes, dinner...” Levi swallowed thickly at the feeling of you tugging on his tie.

“Perfect. See you then.” You said, releasing his tie and turning back to your work. Levi let out a relieved sigh as he went to leave your office, glad to have settled that awkward ordeal, and even more excited for Thursday.

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dream-a-little-bigger-x · 3 years

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Grant You a Universe | Luke Patterson

Requested: Yes/No

wait because here me out, Luke as a quarterback AU like— imagine that, yeah imma request that, a luke quarterback au pls 🥺BUT HES THE COCKY GET ALL THE GIRLS QUARTERBACK YEAH YEAH AND READER IS POPULAR BUT THEY DON’T DATE BUT EVERYONE WANTS THEM TO BE THE POPULAR COUPLE CLICHÉ OMG

A/N: This is the longest I ever worked on a fic, I think? I hope you like it!

Pairing: 90′s!Luke x Reader

Song(s) used: None (WHAT?! Yeah, I know, shocking!)

Warnings: Cheating, implied abuse, party, drinking, someone is drunk, aggression

Words: 6,868

The first time he saw her was Freshman year during football tryouts. While he was on the field, trying to pay attention to whatever the coach was blabbing about, she was running around it. Her ponytail whipping around her head as her feet pounded against the red gravel of the race rink. She was a flash of pink and brown hair, but it was enough for Luke to become infatuated with her. He didn’t even care when he became the quarterback that year. All he cared about was her. He needed to know who she was and ask her on a date, even if it were the last thing he did.

The first time he ever spoke to her was a few days later, after their first game in Freshman year. She was sitting in the bleachers, cheering on the team, and Luke couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter as this beautiful girl cheered him on with every touchdown he scored.

After the game, she came down to say hi to Bobby, the team’s Running Back and the girl’s best friend. Luke knew this. He had seen the two of them together a lot during lunches and in the hallways, but never dared to ask the boy that became a friend of his too, what this girl’s name was or what her deal was.

But the fact that she came to say hi to him, gave Luke an opportunity to talk to her, too. “Hey, Bobbers, nice touchdowns,” the girl teased her best friend, who hadn’t scored any today. He did assist on some of Luke’s touchdowns.

“Oh, shut it, y/n,” Bobby muttered and shoved her in the shoulder. He turned when Luke patted him on the back as he joined the group. “Good game, Patterson,” he said to the floppy haired boy next to him. The boy who couldn’t keep his eyes off his best friend for one second.

“You too, Bobbers,” he repeated y/n’s nickname for her best friend, earning an eyebrow raise from the girl he’s been crushing for a week straight now. Even her eyes were captivating. The dark brown reflected gold in the setting sun.

“You making fun of my nicknames, Patterson?” she asked, one corner of her mouth tugging up into a smirk. The boy became a stuttering mess at the teasing tone in her voice.

“No, I uhm… I-I…” he scratched the back of his neck at a loss for words. “I’m Luke, by the way.” Y/N giggle reached his ears like a sweet lullaby. She shook her head at the boy.

“Oh, I know.”

Her straightforward reply haunted his brain for years to follow. He never knew what it meant but it became the thing that started a blossoming friendship. A friendship that made them the infamous ‘it-couple-that-wasn’t-a-couple’ by junior year. A title neither of you wanted, being in the ‘popular’ clique was already too much.

“Chicaaaas!” Luke called out as he and Bobby walked into the student lounge where y/n and Lydia, her best friend and captain of the cheerleading team, were having some tea and chatting about girl stuff -- as Luke himself liked to say. “Party tonight at Alexis Bryan’s place, are we going or?” he rubbed his hands together as if he’d just concocted the greatest scheme of all time.

Y/N smiled up at both boys and said, “Lyds and I were actually talking about having a sleepover tonight and making a puzzle together.” The two boys groaned and rolled their eyes at her answer. “What?” she asked.

“You sound like two grandmas!” Bobby exclaimed and ran his hand through his dark hair.

“Hey! No hate against grandmas!” Lydia exclaimed with a scowl on her face. Bobby raised his hands in defense before everyone turned to Luke, who was looking down at y/n.

“I don’t know, Luke… I really don’t feel like running into Matt tonight.”

“Come on, y/n. I’m literally nothing with my party partner in crime!” His eyes begged and pleaded, which was something y/n hadn’t quite learned how to resist yet. She’d tried to. Many a time. But she always had to give in eventually.

Even now. “Fine,” she said. “But you’re gonna have to promise to dance with me!” Luke rolled his eyes at the compromise, but couldn’t help the smile finding its way to his cheeks. No matter how hard it was for y/n to say no to Luke, it was twice as hard for him to say no to her.

“Fine,” he grumbled.

That night, as y/n took her scalding hot shower in preparation for the party, she reminisced over the past few years and how much her life changed since she started high school. Her mind wandered over the first day, when she clung to Bobby’s bicep because she was so scared of all the new things around her. She remembered how tiny and scared she felt, but all of that washed away when Bobby reassured her he wouldn’t leave her side. Only when he went to try out for football and she tried out for the running team. Then her mind jumped to the day she met Luke at the football game and how he immediately caught her attention. Ever since that day, her life had become this big-ass chaos. If it weren’t for Luke, she would probably just be part of the sprint relay team. But thanks to being so close to the quarterback, y/n was popular by association. Though, she wouldn’t change it for the world. What she would change was how all her dates had always been scared of Luke. All except for one. Matthew. He somehow managed to get through Luke’s and Bobby’s shield of brotherly protection -- as they called it. The two had been together for a few months until the whispers started. Whispers about Matthew cheating on y/n, or y/n cheating on Matthew with Luke. None of which was very healthy for the relationship, so they broke it off.

It would’ve been friendly if she didn’t see Matthew the day after their break up kissing one of her teammates. That’s when she knew the whispers about him weren’t just rumors. Even up until this day, she wondered if her sister ever had a thing with him, like the whispers suggested.

As her Ace of Base CD played on her stereo, she started to make a move-on with her outfit and makeup. She opted for a black body con dress with spaghetti straps that accentuated her curves in just the right places. For her makeup, she decided on a neutral look and swiped the light browny color across her eyelids.

By the time she started applying her mascara, there was a light tapping on her window. She turned around to find Luke on the small balcony at your window. He was wearing his Screams from The Attic band tee with the sleeves cut off and his trusty black jeans, decorated with the infamous chains and blue rabbit’s foot.

She opened the window door to let him in and turned to grab her shoes. “Hey, you re--wowza!” he cut himself off when his eyes took in every inch of the girl in front of him. A blush crept to y/n’ cheeks as she strapped the black heels on. “That’s a fly outfit, girl.”

“Thanks, Patterson. Let’s bounce, yeah?”

Luke climbed over the stone enclosure of the balcony and carefully let himself hang down from the bottom before letting go and landing gracefully on his feet. He whispered a ‘yes’ under his breath before looking up to find y/n climbing over as elegantly as she could. Though, with that dress on, she was about to flash someone and the lucky recipient of the little sneak peek was of course Luke.

“Is today a special occasion?” he asked. Y/N turned her head to look down at Luke while hanging onto the balcony for dear life. “You only wear red lingerie on special occasions.”

“Why are you looking down my dress, you creep?” The giggle that followed the words reassured Luke that she wasn’t offended by it. It was a typical thing to bicker about in their friendship.

“You flashed your knickers at me, Peaches, don’t blame me.” He held his hands up in defense, shooting her a sheepish look. Y/N scoffed at that and rolled her eyes before dropping down to hang from the balcony the same way Luke had done.

“You are so lucky I love you,” she mumbled and then screamed, “Patterson, think fast!” She let go, and hoped Luke would be fast enough to catch her since she wasn’t going to stick the landing on her heels quite as much as Luke did. Thankfully though, Luke’s fast reflexes made him move underneath her just in time to catch her, bridal style.

Their eyes locked for a moment, both of them suddenly realizing how close they really were. A smile made its way to y/n’s features and she leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek before flicking her legs out of his grasp and patting his chest twice.

“Thanks, buddy. That was like a crazy trust fall.”

Leaving Luke behind to reflect on whatever just happened, y/n skipped towards Bobby’s car and got into the passenger’s seat. She planted a kiss on Bobby's cheek and then turned around as Luke got in the back, finding two other boys she knew all too well.

“‘sup homies?” she grinned cheesily at the blonde and brunette she knew as Alex and Reggie. The two other members of Sunset Curve, the band Bobby and Luke formed when they met in freshman year.

The two boys smiled back at y/n while Luke gave her a glare, probably because she stole his seat in the front. However, y/n didn’t care or notice, for that matter. Her mind was wrapped up in something else instead.

“So, Alex…” she started, capturing the blond guy’s attention. “How was your date with Driss?” she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and it sent a scarlet color up to Alex’s cheeks. Even though his parents didn’t care for his sexual orientation, he was glad his friends supported him, even if that meant y/n’s curiosity in his dating life.

“It was okay…” he replied humbly, but y/n wasn’t y/n if she let this slide.

“Where did he take you? What did you do? What did you wear?” she gasped, “Did you kiss?” The boys collectively chuckled at y/n’s antics. All of them had endured her searching for cute date stories.

“He took me to this really pretty lake where we had a picnic and we screamed into the dark,” he reminisced dreamily with a tender smile on his face. Y/N’s heart melted at the sight of Alex’s happiness. It was about time he got a happy ending too.

“Did you kiss?” she repeated her question.

Alex exhaled, a pout forming on his face as he said, “No… But! He did ask me for a second date tomorrow!” Y/N’s face lit up entirely as she clapped her hands giddily, making Alex laugh.

“I am so happy for you, Alex.” She reached out her hand between the two front seats, and Alex grabbed it, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

The car abruptly came to a stop, causing y/n to lose her balance a little. “The hell, dude?” she asked Bobby, glaring at the driver.

“We’re here, so unless you wanna continue this little tea party, get out of my car!” Y/N glanced at the other boys, who were equally as confused about the boy’s sudden behavior.

“Someone needs to get laid tonight,” y/n muttered while she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of Bobby’s jeep, the boys following suit. She came to a halt in front of the house, looking up at the castle of a house. Music was thumping through the white brick walls and people were bustling about on the front lawn, smoking, drinking and talking.

“You ready?” Reggie asked, placing a hand on y/n’s left shoulder while another hand grabbed her right one. Looking up, she found Alex smiling down at her with that reassuring smile of his. When she felt another hand on her right shoulder and a kiss to the back of her head, she knew she was good to go. She had all her best friends with her. She would be fine, even if she ran into the devil’s spawn.

“If you wanna dip, just give us the sign and we’ll bounce,” Luke told her as he stood behind her. Slowly, but surely, y/n began to nod her head, mentally preparing herself for what’s about to come.

She'd made up a million of scenes where she’d confront Matthew, coming up with the wittiest comebacks she could possibly think of. The perfect monologue that would forever be stuck in her head since she was too much of a shy girl to actually say those out loud. She might seem like a clever, obnoxious popular girl, but deep down, she was still the little geek from Middle School at heart.

“Good to go,” she mumbled and started her way up to the house with Alex’s hand still in hers and the other boys safely surrounding her.

As they walked into the house, they turned a few heads and with it began the rumor mill, like it always did. There was always something to spill about the group, it seemed.

“Y/N!” a loud shriek brought y/n back out of her thoughts. When she looked up, she found Lydia walking up to them with arms wide open. As she hugged her best friend, y/n could smell the alcohol on her.

“Hey, Lyds,” y/n chuckled, “Been here long?” She pushed the strawberry blonde hair off her and took in her presence. She was wearing her lucky red dress with the plunging neckline, which was enough information for y/n to know her best friend was drinking for some courage to get a boy into her bed.

“About an hour,” she slurred, and then her eyes fell on the boys behind y/n. Another shriek deafened y/n as the girl stumbled into Reggie’s arms for a hug. The boy giggled, steadying the tipsy girl. Each on their turn, the boys handed the drunk girl off to the next, knowing she wouldn’t stop until she had hugged every single one of them. “So, what are we thinking, shots?” she asked as she leaned on Bobby’s shoulder for balance.

“I think you need some soda,” Bobby replied before grumpily grabbing Lydia’s hand and leading her towards the kitchen. Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed as she watched the two walk off. Something wasn’t quite right with her best friend, she just couldn’t place a finger on what it was.

“What’s gotten his panties in a twist?” she asked the others, who all simply shrugged.

Within the first ten minutes, the group was split up. While y/n was talking to her running team, Alex was occupied with Driss, Reggie was playing beer pong with some people and Luke was, unsurprisingly flirting with some girl.

Luke was notorious for his flirting with girls, so it didn’t surprise y/n too much when her eyes fell on the popular quarterback, surrounded by a bunch of cheerleaders. Though she had to admit, she loved it most when the flirting was directed at her instead of other girls.

When their eyes locked, Luke shot her a wink with that overconfident smirk on his face that made y/n roll her eyes. After blowing him a kiss, y/n walked back into the kitchen for a refill of her beer. If she was going to survive this party, she was going to need some more party fuel.

“Hey, y/n!” a familiar voice sounded from the other side of the kitchen. When she looked up, she found Astrid and Alexis Bryan, hostesses of tonight’s soiree. It was Astrid who’d called her name. Y/N raised her red cup at the girl as she made her way over to her, leaving her sister by herself. “How you doing?”

“Pretty good. Nice party you got going on here,” she answered, nodding her head to the dancing students in her living room. Astrid chuckled and sipped from her own beer while leaning against the counter.

“Yeah, it is pretty rad,” Astrid mumbled, “Though, we have to thank Alexis for that. Could never have done this myself, but she did, so…” A snicker left y/n’s body as she softly tapped her foot to the beat of the music and her eyes scanned the party.

“Let’s go dance, hm?” Astrid held out her hand for y/n to take, which she gladly did, and let the girl lead her towards the dance floor while sipping her beer.

It’s about time y/n let loose for once. She always used to get so worked up at parties, knowing Matthew was going to be there and she’d tell the boys she wanted to leave before it ever got any fun. But this time, she wasn’t going to let a boy ruin her fun. She was here now, she looked bomb and was having fun with some of the girls from her class.

“Y/N!” Lydia’s voice shrieked once more as she joined y/n on the dance floor with a red cup in her hand while the other landed on the back of y/n’s neck, pulling her in to kiss her on the cheek. “You know I love you, right?”

Y/N glanced over at Bobby, who was keeping an eye out for Lydia from a few feet away.

“I tried to give her soda,” he shrugged. Y/N rolled her eyes as an amused smile made its way to her cheeks. “It’s your best friend,” he added with his hands raised in defense.

Y/N reached out and grabbed Bobby’s wrist, pulling him into the group to dance. He was hesitant at first, but eventually gave in and sang along to the song at the top of his lungs while supporting Lydia in a dance.

Soon, Reggie and Alex had joined the group too, and y/n just knew tonight would be amazing. All she ever needed were her friends, some good music and booze.

“Having fun, sweetheart?” Y/N’s skin crawled upon hearing the voice and feeling the familiar hands on her waist. That amazing night did not include him.

She stopped moving all together and stepped away from him, only for him to pull her closer.

“Let go, Matt!” she yelled and tried to step away again. He twirled her around, leaving his hands firmly on her waist. His bright blue eyes looked down at her with that familiar smile of his playing at his lips. A smile that used to make her heart swell now felt like a violation.

“Ah, you still remember the sound of my voice,” he cooed. One hand came up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I’ve missed you, y/n. I know we broke up, but I realize now that it was a mistake. We’re perfect for each other…”

Y/N almost melted as the words reached her ears until she was reminded by the past they shared. Until she was reminded of what he’d done to her and how much it had hurt. All the pain and sadness suddenly came back to her. She was feeling all of it again.

She took a step back, finally freeing herself from his claws. She said, “Don’t.” Her eyes were dark and angry, her face stoic. A whole new side of y/n Matthew had never seen before. As he muttered her name, he took a step closer, wanting to hold her in his arms again. “Don’t take another step in my direction,” she said, now a lot firmer than before. “Don’t ever think you can apologize your way back into my arms, Matt.”

The commotion had grabbed everyone’s attention so much so that even the music had stopped abruptly. Luke got up from leaning against the wall with a girl pinned against it, when he heard y/n’s voice raise, while her other friends perked up too.

“Please, y/n… You’re the only person I ever loved. You’re the only person I still love.”

Y/N scoffed at this and shook her head in disbelief while kissing her teeth. “Do you think I’m naive, Matt?” Matt looked up at her, pleadingly. “You really think I’d fall for your lies? After everything we’ve been through? After everything you’ve done to me?” She didn’t care who was watching, she needed to get the monologue she’d thought of in the shower out of her system. It’s now or never.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, y/n… I thought we broke up as friends?”

A collective gasp fell over the whole entire room, followed by the usual whispers.

“Yeah, we did. Until I found out you already had your tongue down Sam’s throat the day after. The day after, Matt! I know you were seeing her and so many other girls while we were dating. I hear the whispers too, you know? And I thought, I really thought you were speaking the truth when you told me none of the whispers were true.” Her voice wavered, but she took a deep breath and bit back the tears. She had to stay strong.

“Fine, the rumors were true, but so what, y/n?! The whispers about you were true, too!” The volume of his voice grows, his tone sharper, firmer. Back when they were dating, y/n got scared whenever the volume of his voice rose, but not this time.

Y/N shook her head, her tongue gliding over her teeth. “You hear whispers from people around you, saying I slept with Luke when you know damn well that Luke’s like my brother and we don’t look at each other that way. When you hear whispers, you have to scream and you’re screaming at me for being disloyal when the only one who was ever loyal in our relationship was me. I know about whispers, Matt. I saw the way you looked at my sister. At Alexis. At Amber. At Sam. So don’t you dare say I was ever the only one you loved. Because you, Matthew, don’t love anyone or care about anyone but yourself.”

Luke jammed his hands into his pockets as he listened to y/n’s words. Even though they hurt, he couldn’t help but feel proud of her for standing up to her oppressor. He watched as y/n said her final words before running up the stairs, leaving everyone confused and in a humble of even more rumors and whispers. Shaking his head, he followed y/n upstairs, finding her on the balcony at the end of the hallway.

“So, you finally did it, huh?” His voice made her jump slightly, but she calmed down straight away when realizing it was just him. “Your monologuing in the mirror paid off.” He went to stand next to her, leaning against the concrete enclosure.

Y/N wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, chuckling. Of course Luke would know she’d been practicing in her mirror. This had been brewing for a while and now that it was finally out in the open, lingering in the air in that living room down there, she didn’t know if she should feel relieved or scared.

“Hey,” Luke nudged her with his shoulder, shooting a small smile, “I’m proud of you.”

Her lips curled up into a smile before she wrapped both arms around his bicep, her head resting against his shoulder as she took a deep breath. “I can’t believe I said all of that in there,” she chuckled.

“Yeah, me neither,” said Luke and he pressed a kiss to her hair before laying his head down on hers. “Did you see Matt’s face though? He was genuinely scared of you just then.”

Y/N scoffed and let go of him, making her way to the small bench in the corner of the small terrace. “I doubt he was scared of me. What he was, was shocked because I never talked back to him whenever we fought.”

Luke turned around, but kept leaning against the fence, crossing his arms. “I’m glad you finally did. That asshole needed to know that what he was doing wasn’t cool. He needed to know that that’s not how you treat a woman.”

Y/N raised her eyebrow at him, leaning back on her hands. “And you know how to treat a woman.” Luke wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement, so he didn’t answer straight away. He mulled over a good answer as he walked up to her, taking a seat next to her on the bench, their shoulders touching.

"You know how I’d treat a woman?” he asked.

“Please, enlighten me,” she replied.

Luke inhaled deeply before the words poured out of him like he’d been the one monologuing this in front of his mirror. “I would treat her like a goddess. I would build her temples out of words and love and affection. I would make sure she was happy and satisfied before my own needs were fulfilled. I’d write songs to her and she’d be my muse for my music. I would build empires of paragraphs, castles of melodies inspired by her. I would flood her senses with words and make sure she knew all of that was for her. I would build her a whole new world. I’d grant her a universe filled with words and music of love.”

Y/N let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Woah, Patterson…” Luke shrugged and offered her a shy smile before looking out into the dark night in front of them. “Careful or you’ll make me fall in love with you.”

“That’s the intention,” he muttered, but his words were overpowered by Lydia’s shrieking.

“Here you are!” she yelled, then turned her head to someone inside. “Bobbers! I found our love birds!” She turned her head to the two on the bench and smiled. “Come on, you guys! There’s a party downstairs! We need to celebrate y/n’s greatest victory ever!”

“We can dip if you don’t wanna go back out there,” Luke told her as she stood up.

“I think I’ll be okay,” she smiled thankfully at him before reaching out her hand for him to take. “Come on, let’s get jiggy!” Luke smirked before gently placing his hand in hers and letting her pull him up to his feet.

Together, the two of them followed Lydia and Bobby back downstairs to the party, their fingers laced together as they made their way through the crowd. As if on cue, the people started to whisper again as they passed, but y/n didn’t care. She had her best friends with her, she just stood up to her ex-boyfriend, and she found out her best friend was a feminist. There’s no better night than that. She was not going to let it get ruined by a few whispers.

For the rest of the night, y/n danced and partied with her friends until the sun came up again and it was time to head home. Like every other party night, the six of them ended up in Bobby’s garage. Luke and y/n snuggled up on his couch, Bobby and Lydia in a sleeping bag together, and Reggie and Alex spooning on an air mattress.

Can’t get more perfect than that.

New week, fresh start, people always said. Y/N used to think of it as bullshit, but this time around, she could actually feel it. She felt refreshed, as if a whole new world opened up to her. As if she’d started a new chapter, nay, a new book. One with a happy continuation. One without Matt.

Monday also meant practice after school. For all of them. The football team had practice out on the field while the sprint relay team ran around it and the cheerleaders practiced on the sidelines. It was the one extracurricular they did together without actually doing it together.

“Hey, y/n…” a voice she recognized as Sam’s made her look away from the boys on the football field. Her voice sounded ambivalent, which confused y/n as the girl would normally be chirpy and cheery.

“Hey, Sam. ‘Sup?” y/n gathered her long hair in both hands and tied it up at the top of her head with a bright pink scrunchie.

“I just--I wanted to apologize for what I did…” she mumbled, her eyes cast on her fidgeting finger. Y/N had never seen her teammate like this. The otherwise lively sport nut now sounded guilty and like the light had been snuffed out of her. “I knew you and Matt were together and I still let him…” she trailed off as though saying the words would make them true.

Y/N flinched at the mention of the boy’s name. She had hoped it wouldn’t have been brought up and besides the occasional whisper she’d caught during lunch, the objective had been quite successful. Until now.

“I really don’t wanna talk about him right now, Sam,” y/n muttered, and when she looked up at Sam, she knew she had to say something to ease the girl’s mind. “But this wasn’t your fault. Matt should’ve not tried anything with you. He was the disloyal one, he was the one that cheated on me, not you.” A teasing grin played at y/n’s lips when she continued, “You know, unless you’re gonna tell me now you doped yourself up for practice and are gonna make me lose.”

Sam worriedly looked up, but when she noticed the grin on y/n’s face, she immediately calmed down and couldn’t help but laugh.

She shook her head, “No, I’m no cheater.”

Y/N’s lips curled up into a smile as she grabbed Sam’s hand and squeezed it, letting her know the two are on good terms. Nothing should ever break up the team, especially not a boy.

“She's talking about you, y/n?”

Speak of the devil…

Y/N turned around to where the voice came from, finding a tense Matt in front of her. She should’ve known there was no way of avoiding him all day today.

“I knew you were lying to me. I knew you and Patterson were a thing and you cheated on me with him.” His voice resounded across the entire area, attracting everyone’s attention with the sudden commotion.

The football team stopped their exercise half-way, much to the coach’s dismay, and the cheerleaders broke up their human pyramid to find out what was going on. Luke, Bobby and Lydia were the only ones of each team to give incentive to the rest of the team to walk up to the ex-couple fighting.

“And you just kept on guilting me because I was the only one to be disloyal,” Matt grunted, shaking his head in disbelief. “I heard the whispers, y/n. I heard what happened the other night!”

Y/N’s eyebrows rose, unimpressed at his outburst. “What did you hear this time, Matthew?”

“You and Patterson getting dirty on the balcony at Bryan’s party!” he spat, and drops of saliva actually found their way to y/n’s face. She kissed her teeth before wiping her cheek with one forceful finger.

“Have you learned nothing, asshole?!” y/n shouted. She wasn’t going to keep her cool anymore. Ever since Friday, she learned that she was able to stand up to herself, no matter how scary Matt could get.

She stepped forward, erasing the space between the two as they stood chest-to-chest. Seeing this, Luke halted and averted his eyes. He thought this situation would actually give him a hand at finally asking y/n out for real, but it seemed like the two were about to make up.

“Didn’t you learn about whispers being just that, whispers? Nothing happened between Luke and me. Not when we were dating, not at Alexis’ party. And the fact that you even dare to insinuate I would be capable of cheating just shows once more that you don’t know me and you don’t care about me.” She pressed her index finger to his chest harshly. “You are a selfish, self-indulgent prick who doesn’t deserve all the wonderful women that have thrown themselves at you. You don’t deserve anything and--” y/n flinched as she watched his hand come up and two hands pulled her away from Matt.

“Patterson, stay out of this,” Matt growled. Y/N opened her eyes at the mention of her best friend’s name, finding him between her and her ex now. As she turned her head, Bobby was standing behind her, his hands on her shoulder.

Matt turned back to Y/N, the growl persistent on his face. “No,” Luke said, capturing Matt’s attention once more.

“No?” His voice was abrasive, a tone y/n had gotten used to over the years.

“No,” Luke repeated. He glanced back at y/n before jamming his hands into his trousers and looking at Matt again. Though Luke was a lot smaller than the broad, tall teenager in front of him, his confidence was twice the size of the other footballer. “Technically, you’re pinning me down as a home wrecker, so you pretty much pulled me into this yourself.”

Y/N raised her eyebrows at the new-found confidence. Luke was cocky and flirty around girls, but he’d never been this overly confident version of himself towards his teammates. It was refreshing to see this entirely different side from her best friend.

“Well, yeah, because she clearly did cheat on me with you. Why else would you guys be fooling around after her little outburst to me?” The overconfidence Matt normally carried had now washed away. He hadn’t seen this side of the quarterback yet either.

Luke let out an airy laugh, and retorted, “Yeah, well, see, that’s where you’re wrong.” He tilted his head ever so slightly, his green eyes looking up at the big, burly footballer. “There’s this misconception about our relationship, you see? Y/N and I are the best of friends, and I get it we’d look super hot together as a couple, but the sad truth is -- well, sad for me -- that Y/N has always been too busy being loyal to an asshole like you to see that. So, despite popular belief, y/n and I are just the best of friends and she deserves the world, more even, she deserves a whole-ass new universe. Which is something you can’t give her.”

Y/N stared at her best friend in awe. She had never seen this side of him but she couldn’t say she disliked it. In fact, there was this attractiveness about an overconfident Luke defending her against her ex-boyfriend. And reciting the words in her mind, she realized something she hadn’t seen before. Luke was in love with her and he’d tried to tell her so many times before, but she took it as harmless flirting.

Moreover, y/n realized she was in love with her best friend too.

“But you, Matthew McSomething,” y/n chuckled at Luke’s name dig at the Scottish boy, especially with the added bonus of an attempt at a Scottish accent, “You are too self-indulgent to even give her a fraction of a world. So, unless you can actually give her more than that, stay away from her…”

“Or what?” Matt snarled.

“I’ll put you on the bench for the rest of the season. And we all know you can only get the girls when you’re on the field, don’t we?”

Matt’s eyes widened at Luke’s words as the panic set in. Matthew McGregor was nothing on the bench. Even worse, he was less than nothing. On the bench, he’d get associated with Bruce Frederickson, coach’s nephew who was just there because he was family and not because he was actually good at football.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Luke murmured and then turned to the coach, who, too, had joined in the drama. “I think we can hit the showers now, can’t we, coach?” The tall man nodded his head slowly, unsure about what had just happened to his star player. He’d only ever got this confident on the field, never off. Even the coach knew that.

As all teams dispersed, y/n grabbed a hold of her favorite cheerleader’s arm, pulling her aside while Luke and Bobby walked away. They didn’t even notice y/n’s panicked rush.

“Lyds, I think I’m in love with my best friend,” she whispered. Her eyes were wide, her tone hurried and filled with panic. The strawberry blonde’s lips curled up into a grin as she patted her best friend’s hair.

“Oh, we know, sweetie…” she said, confusing y/n even more, “It’s about time you admitted it.” Y/N rolled her eyes and shook her head as she anxiously played around with the friendship bracelet around Lydia’s wrist.

“I’ve been dreaming about my knight in shining armour since I was ten, Lyds. I never thought I would find it in my best friend. My best friend, Lydia!” The girl let out an endeared laugh as she tucked a flyaway behind the other girl’s ear.

“I know, sweetie.” Her hand landed on y/n’s cheek and her thumb gently swiped across the skin. “Now, go! Tell him!”

“Yeah! Right! Right!” she vigorously nodded her head, but she didn’t move a muscle.

“Y/N… You’re gonna have to move if you wanna go and talk to him.”

Y/N opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, so she shut it again. “Right, yeah…” she swallowed a lump as the fear sank in. She had never had to tell her best friend she had feelings for him. All of this was new to her. How does one even confess that?

“Sweetie, you can do this, okay? Just follow your gut.” Lydia’s tone was stern, but it was exactly what y/n needed to hear. “Like how you don’t calculate your moves on the track, but you just go! Like Gail Devers!” The mention of y/n’s absolute favorite athlete made her look up.

“Gail Devers was actually very meticulous,” she corrected her best friend’s metaphor.

Lydia deadpanned, “Not the point, y/l/n.” She placed her hands on y/n’s shoulders and turned her around, pushing her towards the field. “Now go! Shoo!” She waved her hands in a dismissive manner, and after one more hurried look, y/n sprinted across the field. “Atta girl!” she heard Lydia yell before making her way into the school, through corridors until she reached the boy’s locker room where Bobby had just walked out of.

The boy glanced at her, and when he realized what she was there for, he nodded his head towards the closed door, giving her permission to go inside. He said, “He’s the last one in.”

Y/N kissed Bobby on the cheek before opening the door. She was met with the stench of sweat and deodorant, but it didn’t phase her. Not today. The girl was on a mission.

She weaved through the rows of lockers until she found him standing near a bench, zipping up his trusty black jeans, shirtless. Her eyes scanned his entire physique from head to to toe until she realized she was actually checking out her best friend in a way she hadn’t done before.

“Y/N?”

For a second, she tried to calculate her next move, but then decided to throw it all overboard, and instead marched up to him. She grabbed his face with both hands and brought him down to meet her lips. His breath hitched in his throat before melting into the kiss and bringing his hands up to her waist, pulling her closer into him.

“Give me that whole-ass universe,” she muttered as they pulled away to come up for air. Luke huffed, a relieved smile pulling at his lips. This was what he’d been dreaming of for so long; kissing her, holding her, cherishing her.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he replied before kissing her again. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for ages,” he added, his words disappearing into her mouth.

“Oh, I know.”

With the same words their friendship started, started a whole new chapter in their lives and their relationship. Everything would change now, but neither of them cared. They were granted a whole new universe.

JATP taglist: @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg @thequirkybookaholic @bookdealer5 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @hemmingsness @iainttakingshitfromnobody @ifilwtmfc @angryknightstatesmantrash @kiss-themoongoodbye @rudysbay @thedarkqueenofavalon @caitsymichelle13 @calamitykaty @wiselight @kcd15 @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic @stars-soph @kinda-really-lost @notasofti

Charlie/Luke taglist: @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @gingerxarmy @lovesanimals @lolychu @perfectlywrongformend3s @luckylouiebug @camiladelrio98 @myfriendscallmebeans

Lemme know if you wanna be on my taglist!

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #julie and the fat ones #jatp #luke patterson #charlie gillespie #luke patterson x reader #luke jatp #luke patterson fic #90's!Luke #90's!Luke x 90's reader

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demonictales · 3 years

Text

P O I S O N - ZEWU JUN x READER

request: The reader and Lan xichen meet at a fancy banquet and the reader gets poisoned. At first she just doesn't feel to good but then it gets worse and Lan xichen is super worried. She almost dies but he takes care of her and saves her

TW: POISONING, NEAR DEATH, extremly ooc xichen

As most cultivators knew by now and were gathered at Koi Tower to celebrate the first full birthday of the little heir to the Lanling Jin sect, all of the town was filled with people from everywhere. It was bustling.

Your small clan had been invited as well and since your parents were busy handling your new born baby brother Zizhen you attented as the oldest child from the Baling Ouyang Clan and entered the Koi Tower a few minutes ago, just a little after you had arrived you were greeted by Jin Guangyao. You returned the gesture of bowing respectfully and thanking him for the invitation you had received as well as apologized for your parents absence due to your little brother being born.

The gap between you and your brother was about twenty three years, quite a lot but your parents had birthed you rather young, so it was no big deal. You were excited to have one more family member and a plus point was that you had a little brother by your side now.

Moving along into the hall, you spotted the familiar blue and white attire of the Gusu Lan sect. Immediately your features seemed to be even brighter as you approached Lan Xichen. "Zewu Jun. --- Pleased to meet you here. How have you been these days? "

You had met him several times before, either through lectures or other meetings and occassions where you had crossed paths. It always delighted you to meet him and be able to exchange a few words with him. " Greetings, Lady Y/N. I've been quite alright. I shall hope you had nothing to worry about either." Xichen spoke in his usual quiet and refined tone and you nodded with a smile. "Yes, I've been fine. My brother was born a couple days ago. -- It will be very lively for the next few years in Baling. " You answered him with the news of your brother coming to walk this planet. "Congratulations. He will be a happy and strong boy with an older sister like yourself by his side. --- " A rose colored blush graced your cheeks before you smiled. "Thank you, Zewu Jun. I will let him know you think this way. My parents will be joyful to hear such words of blessing for Zizhen."

Soon the dinner would commence and lots of guest were talking and enjoying the festivities including yourself during the night, cheeks adorned by the blushing heat of the wine that did give you a little to much warmth. You told yourself you'd drink no more as you felt rather dizzy from what you were given. It was so unusual since you were not a lightweight, you could hold your liquor but something about this red firewater was setting you off. Perhaps it was just stronger as you expected it to be though it did leave a bitter taste on your tongue.

Excusing yourself you went outside, you needed air and to cool down a little. Clenching your eyes together to get a better vision was one thing you did as you stood up and started walking towards the doors, however, the room did not stop spinning and you felt incredibly nauseaous when your heart started racing like crazy. Holding onto the door frame for security got you no where.

Lan Xichen had joined a few cultivators outside for a talk when he noticed your struggling figure at the entrance. He did not think much of it before you in fact threw up a massive amount of blood unbeknownst to yourself for you had blacked out the moment you fell to the ground. "Ouyang Y/N!" Zewu Jun hurried over to you, feeling your pulse. It was weak, barely tangible. Crimson colored blood ran down you lips and nose, your already dark red colored robes were sweat drenched. None other than Jin Guangyao rushed to Xichen's side wondering what happened. "She has been poisoned. If we are not quick to find the culprit and the antidote, it might bring terrible consequences."

Zewu Jun requested Meng Yao's help to send out people to find out who poisoned the young lady of Baling. What nobody knew was this seemed to be an assasination attempt on Jin Guangyao which had been failed as your wine had been switched by an unknown servant and was served to you instead of Meng Yao.

It was only a matter of time before the perpetrator either escaped or was caught. You were given into the care of the doctor of Lanling which was instructed to give updates on your health as each of the cultivators present and the apprentices of the Jin clan were sent in search of the assassin. Even Lan Xichen was involved. He knew you didn't have much time and you needed the antidote before the sun rose high in the sky to survive or it would be too late for you.

Hour after hour passed as your health and sign of life disappeared within you and the closer they got to find the culprit. He was disguised as an errand boy inside the clan of Lanling when being searched they had found someone fighting back. Everybody was doing their best to get the antidote or Jin Rulan's name would be tainted by the death of an accquired clan members death. They could possibly not let that happen.

Meanwhile you were losing strength to hold onto live, you did no longer react to the doctor calling your name, your unconsiousness dragging you deeper and deeper into the dark void of nothingness. However, your subconcious could make something out just a little, a liquid was running down your lips and every bit inside tingled by a slight burning sensation. It wasn't too strong of a pain, but it was bearable. What once felt like you had been turned to mush inside now felt like it was burning and restoring itself. What in god's name had happened? What is happening and why were you coughing all of a sudden.

Bright light blinded you when you opened your eyes, your head bumping tremendously , a stinging pain as you sat up, the song of clarity being played in the far corner of the room you were resting. As your dark orbits adjusted to the sunlight you were surprised to see Zewu Jun who sat and played the melody. You watched quietly taking a deep breath as the calming effect took over you. Eventually, you got up and quietly walked over, steps still a bit wobbly as you did so. "Zewu Jun. "

Your voice was dry and it matched your even dryer mouth. His eyes met yours as he came to a quiet and soft stop of playing the guqin. "You are finally awake. Let me pour you some tea. " He spoke in his usual quiet and calming voice. " How long have I been out? -- The celebrations were yesterday, am I right? " All you remembered was that you had maybe drank a bit to much wine, and went outside, but that was it. "Lady Y/N, you have been resting for three days. Do you not remember what happened? "

You were slightly confused because you did not quite understand what he was saying. You shook your head and took the tea he offered you with a small smile. "Thank you. --"

After a brief explanation of the events of the past five days you starred at him blankly. You had been poisoned, which had been an assasination attempt on Jin Guangyao but the maid ended up serving the poisened wine to you on accident and basically Jin Guangyao was the one who had recovered the antidote while Zewu Jun had fed it to you and played the Song of Clarity for your quick recovery. Lips were parted as you tried to speak but no words came out. How? That was the question, how did you end up getting caught up in an assasination attempt on Jin Guangyao.

"I believe I owe you very sincere thanks. " Quietly you stood up and bowed to Lan Xichen, who had stayed two days and three nights playing the clarity song for you. "The Baling Ouyang clan is deeply indepted to you, Zewu Jun. --- You have our undisputed loyalty for as long as the Ouyang Clan exists. I myself am indebted to you as well. " Lan Xichen's reputation was much more than that and you knew how humble he was but you did not bent. You were sincere in the fact that he had safed your live.

"There is no need to bow. " His hands touched your elbows and brought you up. " Instead rest well for another two days before you go home. " He insisted. You nodded and did as he spoke.

From that day on, you had sworn yourself as a sister to Zewu Jun for saving your life and he greatly accepted your offer.

#mdzs x reader #mdzs reader insert #the untamed x reader #zewu jun x reader #lan xichen x reader #cdrama x reader

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melzula · 4 years

Text

The Reunion

*part of the Fire Lilies series

request: Could you write a Fire Lilies blurb about Zuko's and Princess! Reader's reunion when he joins Team Avatar?

The atmosphere is oddly tense when you wake up that morning and head out for breakfast. Aang and Sokka refuse to meet your gaze and Katara keeps her eyes set on the pot of rice before her. Unlike her brother and the Avatar, her eyes are more firm and hard set.

“Did I miss something?” You muse inquisitively. Sokka begins to sweat nervously, and you take that as an opportunity to narrow your gaze at the boy- if anyone’s going to break first it’s going to be him. “Sokka?”

“Zuko was here!” He finally blurts, earning a fiery gaze from his sister.

“Sokka!”

“I’m sorry! I couldn’t hold it in anymore, it was killing me!”

“What?” You gasp softly. Your bowl of rice begins to tremble in your pottery crushing grasp, and you feel absolutely sick to your stomach.

“He came yesterday while you were exploring with Haru,” Aang explains gently while trying his best not to upset you. “He wanted to join our team and teach me fire bending. He said he’s changed.”

“He was obviously just trying to trick us so he could turn us over to his crazy sister,” Sokka adds indifferently. “And he admitted to sending Combustion Man after us!”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” you grumble whilst angrily stabbing at your rice with your chopsticks.

“He... also asked for you,” Aang says, causing you to go wide eyed. “He wants you to know how sorry he is for everything he’s done to you.”

“We didn’t tell you because we didn’t want to upset you,” Katara consoles in response to your uneasy silence. “You’ve been so much better off without him, you don’t need him trying to uproot your life again.”

“I appreciate the sentiment but you don’t have to keep secrets from me,” you argue. “I’m glad I didn’t see him, but I have the right to know about him.”

Katara isn’t able to say anything more as Toph tumbles through the rocks with a groan.

“Toph!” You exclaim, rushing to her side and gasping at the sight of her feet. You’re quick to coat her burned skin in a pool of water, making sure to lower the temperature so that it’s nice and cool against her wounds.

“My feet got burned,” she frowns. “I went to see Zuko last night-“

“Zuko did this?!” You seethe. Anger and fury flow through your veins at the thought of him hurting the girl who’s basically become like a little sister to you.

“Hey, easy with the water there your highness,” Toph complains, and you barely notice that your anger has caused the water’s temperature to rise.

“Sorry,” you murmur apologetically as Sokka and Aang lift Toph from the ground and set her feet into the fountain.

“That’s the stuff,” she sighs contently. “Now I know how you guys feel. It stinks not being able to see with your feet.”

“How did this happen?” Katara asks.

“I kind of startled him, it was an accident.”

“Accident or no accident, Zuko is obviously too dangerous to be left alone. We have to go after him.”

“Go after him?” You repeat uneasily, despising the worry that begins to wrap around your heart at the thought of them going after Zuko. Why do you still care?

“I have to agree with Sokka,” Aang sighs. “I hate looking for fights but we have to do this.”

“Toph said it was an accident, can’t we just let him go?”

“Why are you defending him? He burned her feet! He’s obviously still evil,” Katara criticizes.

“I’m not defending him! I’m just saying maybe it’s better if we just avoid him. Seeking Zuko out will only lead to more trouble,” you try to rationalize, but your fellow water bender isn’t having it.

“Leaving him alone means there’s a chance he can hurt someone else. Wouldn’t you have wanted someone to stop Zuko from hurting you before it was too late?!” The question leaves you misty eyed and hurt, but you don’t have time to argue when a harsh blast shakes the earth underneath you. You’re quick to scoop Toph up into your arms before being guided to safety by Sokka.

You focus your attention on tending to Toph while the others fight off Combustion Man, keeping her safe since she can’t use her bending to protect herself. The battle doesn’t last very long thankfully, but now you find yourself facing a new obstacle.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but, thanks Zuko.”

“Hey, and what about me? I did the boomerang thing,” Sokka points out, and you’d laugh if you weren’t so conflicted at the sight of your ex boyfriend before you. He looks so different from the last time you were together; his hair is shaggier and he looks a bit leaner, his eyes are tired and full of remorse. You do your best to conceal yourself behind Sokka, holding onto his arm for comfort and refusing to meet the Prince’s gaze.

“I know I didn’t explain myself very well yesterday. I’ve been through a lot in the past few years, and it’s been hard. But I’m realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It’s something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what’s right.”

His eyes meet your own then, apologetic and full of longing for your forgiveness. You had tried to explain that same truth to him countless times before during your time abroad together, and each time it only seemed to go in one ear and out through the other. He had to learn the lesson on his own, and now that he finally had he was ready to follow your advice. He just hopes that you’ll let him. You look away and give Sokka’s arm a squeeze to which the boy responds by taking your hand in his own, and Zuko deflates slightly at the action.

“All I want to do is play my part to help you end the war and restore balance to the world. I know it’s my destiny, and I hope you’ll allow me the opportunity to see it through,” Zuko admits humbly. He turns to Toph. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident, and I need to learn to be more in control of my fire bending so that I don’t hurt people unintentionally.”

A single tear slides down your cheek at his admission and you’re quick to brush it away. Don’t hurt people unintentionally. It was a little too late for that, wasn’t it?

“I think you are supposed to be my fire bending teacher, and I’d like you to teach me,” Aang says. “But I can’t let you join our team without asking my friends first.”

With each member of the group giving their acceptance, some more reluctant than others, of Zuko becoming Aang’s fire bending instructor, all eyes land upon you as the deciding vote.

“Y/n?” Aang calls gently, forcing you to meet your friend’s caring gaze. “I know how much pain you’ve been through and how long it’s taken you to overcome your heartbreak. Are you going to be comfortable with Zuko joining our group?”

Sokka’s arm comes to wrap around your shoulders comfortingly as you shrink under everyone’s gaze. At least a full minute passes before you finally will yourself to meet Zuko’s hopeful gaze. His eyes are different than the one’s you last saw in the cave, softer and lacking the malice they had once held, but you still can’t look at him without seeing the same boy who had intended to burn you in order to appease his sister. You swallow harshly and will the tears away from your eyes.

“I’m willing to put my feelings aside for your sake, Aang,” you finally answer. “Defeating the Fire Lord is more important than anything else.”

“I won’t let you down! I promise!” Zuko beams, and the group begins to disperse until it’s only you and him standing face to face. His features soften, remorse immediately washing over him as he takes a step forward. “Y/n, I-”

Zuko stumbles forward, struggling to regain his balance as he finds he cannot move; you’ve frozen his feet to the floor. He looks at you wide eyed and astonished, a hint of amazement at just how much you’ve improved since the last time he saw you.

You’ve spent countless sleepless nights figuring out what you’d say to Zuko if you ever saw him again- if you’d yell and curse his name to every spirit within ear shot, if you’d cry and scream with anguish, if you’d tell him off or welcome him with open arms. But now, with Zuko standing frozen before you, you find that you have nothing to say to him.

You leave Zuko behind to unfreeze his own feet, silently following Toph and Sokka back into the temple.

| tags: @titaniafire @dekahg @emberislandplayers @kikaninchen-2 @multi-fandomstan @eridanuswave @royahllty @lozzybowe @izzieserra @melacholy @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @kittenthekat1234567890 @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @coldlilheart @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea |

#zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #atla #atla x reader #avatar the last airbender #toph #katara #sokka #aang #fire lilies

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no-droids · 4 years

Note

DOVE HAS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING MURDERED ME FUCK YOU WRITE OBI SO GOOD IT WAS PERFECT FROM START TO FINISH PART 3????? HEADCANONS ON WHAT THEY GET INTO OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS??? ANYTHING

OH YEAH

There are so many ways this could potentially go so as the author I humbly present three options of fics I’ll never write, all of them featuring one very obvious thing I wouldve been forced to acknowledge in a nonexistent part 3 and each one increasing in angst so if you’re a happy person that loves happy endings (LIKE MEEEEEE SO EVEN THE ANGSTY ONES WILL HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS BECAUSE WHY ELSE GO THROUGH ALL THAT MESS) then limit yourself to the first one

((also I am not going to make this sound flowy and coherent because I have not the time for it padawans so you’re gonna have to deal with my bullshit in all its unfiltered bullshit if you want my thoughts because in this house we wing it understand))

Very fluffy, very happy, slightly unrealistic headcanon:

You and Obi-Wan are like little RABBITS after this like not just for the rest of the ritual but the whole trip back, like yall bang it out for like a whole two weeks like nobody’s business and he can’t fucking get enough of you. Both go back to Coruscant, Obi-Wan asks the Council if he can oversee the whole training aspect of the new soldiers before they’re sent out into the war, he’s granted permission because he’s just given the republic the ultimate checkmate against the separatists so nobody’s gonna fuckin say SHIT. Y’all do everything and more that Obi-Wan first offered to you in those fantasies, and it’s hot and dirty and secret sex (IN A GREAT WAY) and you get to make eyes at each other when you pass in the halls and it’s TINGLY and maybe... maybe at some point your signature starts to change just a little bit, even more than when yall first did your thing on s’Ziscari and suddenly WHAT HOLY SHIT YOU PREGNANT???? and normally that would be such a SHOCK and OUTRAGE to have a PREGNANT JEDI IN THE ORDER except what the fuck is the council gonna do about it like? They literally ASKED for this, gave their blessing knowing full damn well that shit was a ritual of fertility and he would have to cum inside you for a week straight, knowing you weren’t on birth control because you’re a Jedi like there’s no reason for it, knowing that you did it to save the entire galaxy like WHAT THE FUCK IS THEY GON DO?? so oopsies BABY TIME BABY and I had that wonderful anon once who graciously informed us all that mundi was granted permission to uh. MARRY AND HAVE CHILDREN due to extenuating circumstances so hell yeah you and Obi-Wan have a lil Jedi family and its great and everything is lovely and either you have a lil kid that has a soft lovely turquoise signature in the force OR you have twins and one of them has green energy and the other has blue the end

Slightly angstier headcanon:

Obi-Wan knows it’s wrong but he still wants it. He fucks you hard those six days and then the entire trip back, but once he goes back to coruscant around all the other jedi he starts bouncing back and forth between hot and cold because HE can’t handle it. But he still requests to stay on Coruscant because secretly he knows he won’t be able to resist you for long and then oop y’all got that force connection thingie so you know exactly what he’s thinking, you know how much he wants it and how much he’s still struggling with it and so you become a lil minx that continues to seduce him constantly, you start masturbating when you know he can hear you and thinking of very sexy kinky things that starts to drive obi-wan just a lil bit crazy in the head, but he’s STRONG and he got years of experience resisting his feelings for you. But then WHOOPS PREGNANT so that baby bump very quickly brings y’all back together because Obi never imagined he’d be a father, but then the council isn’t as cool this time about it and the only offer they present is that you have the baby quietly and the baby will join the academy as a youngling and y’all can’t ever tell them you’re their parents because it creates attachments. So you’re devastated but you understand and Obi-Wan gives you that non husband husband dick to make you both feel better and then you both grow old together, secretly in love and you get to watch your lil youngling grow into a excellent little jedi from afar and it’s kinda sad but at the same time it’s fitting for the setting so don’t come at me

ANGSTY HEADCANON:

Obi-Wan loses himself in the ritual for the rest of the six days but as soon as it’s over and done with, he realizes the gravity of what he just did and how Dark he allowed himself to become, and he FREAKS and turns away from his feelings because it’s what he’s been trained to do his entire life and he avoids your ass like the fucking corona even though y’all still have a permanent connection thingie in the force and he can feel your HURT but here’s the thing that’s just MORE DARKNESS, more of why he never wanted to do this to begin with and he can’t get alleviate that darkness without also giving into it so FUCK he just goes back to fighting and leaves you, just like you feared he would. And then suddenly OOPS PREGGO but without obi-wan there to stand up for the sacrifices you made, you get banished from the order and WHAT THE FUCK EVERYTHING BAD IS HAPPENING ALL AT ONCE and obi-wan can feel something through the force from across the universe (stolen, credit: The Beatles) and he STRUGGLES BITCH EVERY DAY HE STRUGGLES WITH THIS SHIT but then AHHHHHHH!! PALPATINE SCREECH because oh fuck that’s some good darkness right there mhm and the s’Ziscari just threw a wrench into everything so palpatine panics and uses everything that’s happening to TURN YOU SITH DUN DUN DUNNNNNN (if you’re reading this far I’m assuming you’re wondering why palpatine wasn’t ever mentioned in any of the other potential headcanons and theres a great reason for that tbh it’s because I’m an asshole author and I reserve the right to choose whatever storyline fits my whims at the time) BUT ANYWAYS so you go full on dark side baby and it’s sexy as fuck you got them slightly yellow eyes but before you can get too deep into it, obi-wan can feel that shit in the force and HE DROPS EVERYTHIGN TO GET YOU BACK BABY DONT FRET. he makes some big gesture idk and you forgive him and balance his light with your darkness again and he leaves the order for you and you both become grey jedi with a family with no affiliation to the order and live happily ever after the end

Anyways. feel free to ignore all of those and come up with your own ending instead! this is just me suggesting possibilities

#anon #ask

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shuatoyou · 4 years

Note

hello!! can i request a fake dating f2l au with joshua w a bit of jealous joshua and mainly fluff with a teeny bit of angst thanku!

here’s the long awaited request anon! thank you for this i hope you enjoy reading as much as i enjoyed writing.

fluff with some angst i think?

joshua x reader

wc; 1,896

“y/n are you bringing a date to the wedding?” your mom curiously asks while you observe the dress you had on in the mirror in front of you. the question makes you turn around to face her.

“um no?” you hesitate and your response makes her look up at you.

“bring your boyfriend sweetheart.” she smiles diverting her attention to the dress you had on. “that joshua kid, he’s your boyfriend right?”

“yeah! o-of course” you stammer on your words hoping your mom would take no notice and turn around on your heals swiftly facing the mirror watching your reflection panic.

you and joshua were not dating in fact you doubted he would have any feelings for you whatsoever seeing as you were best friends, however he was a regular plus one to the family events because of them constantly getting on your case about dating and it would be embarrassing for them if their only daughter kept attending these events alone after all they boasted about your social life. so joshua continuously offered to attend alongside you and pretend to be your lover which was a role he played successfully to your luck.

you walked out of the dress store shortly parting ways with your mother to go back to your home with the new dress for the upcoming occasion.

you walk in to your humble abode dropping all your bags down beside the sofa and letting yourself fall onto the soft seat. truthfully you dreaded asking joshua to go to this wedding with you as your date mainly due to the fact you had some unrequited feelings you’d recently develo=ped towards the other but you knew it would be even more awkward asking someone else from your friendship circle so he was the only answer at the end of the day.

picking up your phone you dial joshua’s number startling once you hear his soft voice come through.

“hey y/n whats up?” joshua asks cheerfully making you close your eyes tightly at the tone of voice that always gave you butterflies.

“nothing much, i was just wondering if you were free this weekend?” you ask him as confidently as you can.

“are you asking me on a date?” at this point you knew he was smirking as he asked that.

“no but i do need someone to go with me to my cousins wedding this saturday. you’re being weird though maybe i’ll ask jeonghan instead” you somewhat tease knowing the boy will object.

“you better not, of course i will be there as your date” he emphasises on the date and you can feel a blush creeping up to your cheeks

“yes you will. my dress is light blue” you state nonchalantly notifying the boy.

“bet you’ll look great, i’ll find a tie to match.”

his sudden compliment catches you completely off guard and its evident as you barely manage to let out a small ‘okay’ a few seconds late causing joshua to chuckle over on his end knowing he had this effect on you.

“bye y/n” he exclaimed before abruptly hanging up.

you groan into a pillow frustrated wondering how you would get through the weekend, the answer should be like all the other times but you felt nervous nevertheless.

joshua eyed you intently watching you walk over to him with your dress flowing all princess like around you and every little detail such as the colour and the fitting of the stunning material complementing all your features.

“hi” you both breathed out at the same time making eachother giggle in unison.

“you look amazing” joshua smiles opening the door to his car on the passenger side, a gentlemanly courtesy from the one and only gentleman. you blush getting into the car ready to return a compliment to him as he gets in to the driver seat to drive you both to the venue, however nothing leaves your mouth. perhaps it was the nerves.

the drive is filled with joshua talking about his week with you commenting here and there whilst trying to avoid glancing over at him, nodding your head to the music playing quietly from the radio.

thankfully the journey wasn’t longer than twenty minute, at the hall you step out of the car only to be greeted with joshua offering you his arm which you shyly accepted either way as you walked in and began greeting your family with joshua beside you attracting stares left and right.

“y/n sweetheart!” your mother rushes up to you giving you a hug which made you untwine your arm from joshua’s to return it.

“i see you brought your handsome boyfriend” she winks causing joshua to widen his eyes and laugh at the suddenness of her compliment. you glanced up to him to see his cheeks flushed which you found endearing to say the least.

“you guys are sitting over there” she points over to a table a few steps away. “whenever you’re ready come join us” the last words are spoken and soon enough your mother is gone to deal with other business.

joshua turns to you, instinctively you turn around to face him.

“should we go sit down now?” he speaks out watching your gaze soften as you listened to him speak.

you nod so he reaches to hold your hand and leads the way to the table, the sudden action shocked you so you stopped at a halt making joshua stop with you.

“is something wrong?” he asks eyes showing worry.

“no... just- you’ve never done that before” you mutter looking down at your intertwined hands.

“sure i have, but i’m especially your date for tonight so i think i have the privilege to hold your hand even more.” he winks before continuing the way to the table and even pulling out your chair for you to sit making the adults at the table coo at his gentlemanliness.

the entire night joshua spent talking to you, making you laugh here and there at the little jokes he would throw in, hearts doing backflips unknown to one and other but you couldn’t help enjoy the company.

he left momentarily for the bathroom leaving you alone until another figure approached you tapping your shoulder to gain your attention you respond by turning around to see your childhood friend who you immediately stood up to greet the individual.

“seungcheol? it’s been a while!” you exclaim, eyes widening trying to adjust to the new appearance of your long time friend before pulling him into a hug.

“yeah we’ve both changed a bit clearly.” he chuckles looking down at his own suit once pulled away.

“sit, im sure my parents would love to see you again!” you speak out pointing towards the nearest chair as you sit down on your own.

joshua returned to see you in deep conversation with the boy unknown to him the pang of jealousy hit hard causing him to frown at the male at the center of your attention making you laugh like he was earlier. silently he approached taking a seat in the next vacant chair as his previous one was now occupied by the stranger.

it wasn’t long before you to noticed joshua’s presence and you wasted no time introducing the two to each other.

“joshua this is seungcheol, we grew up together and seungcheol this is my date joshua” you introduce the two boys to each other both of them passing on friendly smiles before turning their attention back to you.

“oh are you guys dating?” seungcheol asks genuinely curious.

you stutter unable to answer the sudden question however joshua speaks up anyways. “yeah we are” he reaches to hold your hand repeating the action that turned you into a flustered mess but you nod anyways going along with him.

“im happy for you y/n! i hope you both last a long time”

seungcheol’s words had more of an effect on you two than expected and it was the same for joshua who you felt squeeze your hand gently.

“anyways, i’m going now but i’ll see you around?” seungcheol gives you both a little wave and you nod in return before watching him walk off. you turn around to joshua straight away only for the boy to let go of your hand and more immersed in a glass of wine.

“you’re gone red” you poke at his cheek snickering ever so slightly making joshua put down his treasured glass to look at you with a blank expression before turning away again. you huff getting up hoping for a slight change of expression from the boy but to your dismay - nothing.

a slow tune started playing and you glanced around to see guests getting up to join the slow dance at the centre of the hall. you sit back down only for joshua to get up this time and hold out his hand to you. puzzled, you give him a questioning look.

“dance with me” he mumbles and you dont waste anymore time giving into dancing with him despite your heart racing like crazy.

to be honest you could barely concentrate on dancing with joshuas hands resting on your waist with yours around his neck. his touch felt like fire and you couldn’t help but feel warm inside despite your nerves now skyrocketing.

“you haven’t given me much attention tonight” joshua spoke with a low tone down into your ear as you both swayed to the gentle music.

“w-what do you mean” you pull back slightly to see his face better but regret it almost immediately realising how close in proximity your faces were.

“i thought it was obvious.” he chuckled and you could feel your heart racing at a dangerous number of miles per minute. sure you were a little bit oblivious but you were scared of misunderstanding his words so you stayed silent not breaking eye contact waiting for him to continue which he did.

“i like you y/n” he muttered once again into your ear, you felt his breath fan your neck sending shivers down your spine and your cheeks burning. the fact that your feelings were not so unrequited brought a lot of shock to you but you couldn’t help the smile now taking over your expression out of happiness.

joshua examines your face searching for an kind of indication you were okay with his confession before setting his gaze onto your rosy lips. you dont hesitate before reaching up to connect your lips that went together perfectly.

the both of you pull away first aware of your surroundings and it wasnt long till both of you were betrayed by the visible blush forming.

the song finally came to a halt and joshua led you outside where it was quieter.

“so what do you say? we should date for real now right?” he’s close to you again and hoping you cant hear the pace of his heart.

“not how i expected to be asked out at someone elses wedding but yes dummy we should” you laugh out lifting up your hand to push back his hair messing it up as joshua’s arms find their way around your waist again pulling you closer to him.

“good” he whispers connecting your lips once again both of you smiling into the kiss feeling pure bliss and completely content with the events of the night.

#anon!!#joshua request #enjoy <3 #seventeen #seventeen blog #joshua hong #joshua #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen drabbles #seventeen request #seventeen fluff #seventeen angst #f2l

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maddiethebull · 4 years

Note

hi! are your requests still open? if yes, could you please, pleaseeee write prompt #17 for lucien? i've read the gavin one and it was so precious!!! i hope you will have a wonderful day ahead of you!! ✨💋

My requests are still open! Just eternally because I barely have a life! Thank you for complimenting my Gavin fanfic!! You’re so sweet! Thank you for making a request

Lucien (MLQC) - Prompt #17 - “You know what? Shut up. Kiss me.”

It had been a hard day at the office. Victor had been on your ass about all of the work that you needed to get done, it was majorly frustrating today, especially, because you were supposed to attend the lecture Lucien was giving that evening, but all you could think of was work work work.

On the way from LFG to Loveland University, you were so distracted, thinking about how you could possibly get that report done in two days or less, that you nearly walked into traffic. ‘Just calm down, MC, no time to think about work right now. You get to see Lucien today.’ With that thought, you smiled, Lucien had always made you feel so comfortable and he never stressed you out like Victor and Gavin, and he was much more calm than Kiro. ‘Lucien is like the perfect porridge, no that’s weird’ you thought, ‘Lucien is like a good middle ground? Ugh whatever, Lucien’s nice to be around and I like him. That’s all that matters.’

You entered the large building, it was so full of students. It even brought back old memories of when you attended the same University you were in now.

If only Lucien was a professor then! Talk about eye candy, am I right? Walking up and down the halls and stopping to look at a couple maps, you searched for the room Lucien was to be presenting in.

When you finally found it and entered, you sat down in the crowded room with the students around you wondering who this new face was. There had been rumors that Lucien was seen going on dates with a certain person, a person who was described to look a lot like you. You were in the dark about the rumors, you didn’t hang around the Uni a lot and you didn’t talk to any of the students, really, so when you heard,

“Is that who the Professor’s dating?” from behind you, you shrunk into your seat.

‘He’s dating someone?’ you thought. It made you feel even worse thinking about Lucien going on dates with someone, the guy you liked, liking someone else. But, you were his friend, so you couldn’t very well leave the lecture you promised to attend. The lights dimmed and he began, showing some fancy charts that you couldn’t understand that well and in about five minutes you were lost. Your thoughts once again ran around in your brain, and now adding on was the fact that Lucien was dating someone. You began nodding off in search for solace, you just needed some peace and quiet for a couple minutes. You were carried away while Lucien’s soft, deep voice echoed through the room.

About an hour later,

“MC?” Lucien was standing over you, everybody had already left the lecture room. You were fully asleep as Lucien nudged your shoulder, asking jokingly what you thought of his presentation. Once you awoke, you jolted up. You saw that the lecture hall was now empty and began furiously apologizing,

“I-I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I slept through it. Was it good? Of course it was good, that was a stupid question.”

Lucien only chuckled at you. How could you be so adorable? He never really cared when you wouldn’t grasp what he was talking about, it only mattered to him that you would show up. He spoke,

“Why don’t we have a cup of tea at my place and I can fill you in on the details,” A sly smile crept up along with a mischievous tone, “a private lecture of sorts.”

After a moment of thought, you gave in. You’d had a hard day, might as well go with him and see what would happen, even if nothing happened, you were still content with staring at him while listening to his smooth voice ramble on about whatever smart thing he had up his sleeve. He took your hand to help you up and the two of you began walking to his place.

On the way, you stopped to get a snack, and Lucien asked you,

“So, why is a certain little MC so sleepy today?”

You sighed, “It’s just work, I have so much to do, but I have almost no time to do it and I’m afraid of being told that my work isn’t good enough. I work so hard on all of the things I do, but they never seem to be up to Big Mr. Victor’s standards.”

He replied, “Don’t even get me started on Victor. He has, what we scientifically classify as, a stick up his ass.”

You almost choked on your food, you were laughing so hard. It felt so good to finally laugh that day, and while you knew Victor wasn’t actually as mean as he seemed, it was nice for someone to agree with you. Still laden with laughter, you glanced at Lucien. He was certainly the most interesting person you’d ever met. He was staring at you, a habit of his, and the way his dark eyes focused so intently on you, it made you feel special. Lucien as a whole made you feel special. You wanted to drink up his presence and never let him go. The way he could be so professional yet have such a lively sense of humor was just one of the traits you absolutely loved about him. But, with this news about him dating someone… it outright sucked. ‘Why can’t I be the one he’s dating?’ you thought. You were too shy to ask him about who it was his student’s said he was dating, not even really wanting to know the answer, you just pushed it to the back of your mind.

“You almost finished eating?” he asked, with his eyes still only on you. He had a hint of a smile grazing his features. Every time he saw you, he felt the need to know more about you. He wanted to be able to ace a test on you, you were just so intriguing. You were so different from the people he’d come into contact with, you were like a flood of bright light on his otherwise dark world. He looked down at the table, letting out a sigh. He was conflicted about how he felt for you, he felt like he couldn’t just outright tell you, he likened it to running black paint over the Mona Lisa. The last thing he wanted was for you to change, for you to become like him, because he knew the extent of things he could never tell you. He knew that he was closer to a devil than an angel, and to him, you were the exact opposite. He never wanted to lose that bright light you gave him.

“Yeah, I’m done now,” you said with a cheery expression. When Lucien was deep in thought, you always seemed to bring back his fading smiles. The two of you went on your way to his house, and by accident, you approached your own door. It dawned on you that you’d never actually been inside of his apartment before and by habit, you simply went your own way. ‘Today is different now’, you thought as you put your keys back into your pocket.

He opened the door for you and took your jacket. The air of the room was sort of awkward, Lucien was excited to have you over for the first time, while you were thinking of how whoever he’s dating has probably been in his house a billion times. Distracting yourself, you looked at all of the paintings on his walls, and a certain one caught your eye. It was a man under the night sky, reaching up to the stars where an ethereal being reached down to the man. Their hands would never touch because of the distance between them, but they kept reaching for each other.

“Who painted this?” you asked as you made your way to get a closer look.

“Oh, I did,” he replied casually, “I’m not the world’s best artist, but painting relaxes me.”

“You’re kidding! You painted this?” You eyed him and then the painting, “this is amazing, I couldn’t dream of doing this, don’t be so humble,” you chuckled out.

Lucien approached you, he thought it fitting that you stood next to a painting inspired by you. ‘By far’, he wished he could say, ‘you’re more beautiful than anything I could ever make.’ He lifted his arm to put around you, but stopped himself. Pulling his arm back to his side, he gave a polite thank you and went to the kitchen to make some tea for the two of you.

The both of you sat down and had a casual conversation, somehow making its way back to his presentation that you completely missed. You were in the middle of apologizing for the umpteenth time when Lucien’s suddenly found his mind cluttered with a billion things he wanted to say. The need to tell you his feelings, the need to kiss you, it ached deep in his heart and this never ending confliction, he thought, needs to come to an end. You were right there, and he knew that he loved you. He simply threw caution to the wind.

You were still talking, saying, “I really do need to have a better sleep schedule, and I promise I won’t fall asleep in your lectures anymore. I know I’ve done it a couple times, but-”

An impish smirk grew on his lips, he stared at you intently, capturing your attention, and said, “You know what? It doesn’t matter if you never listen to any of my lectures, so shut up, only these moments matter to me. Kiss me.” He delivered it so smoothly that you felt like you were melting in your chair.

You were taken aback, and certainly did shut up. You were blushing like mad, fumbling your hair and stuttering like crazy.

“L-Lucien,” you said. That was all you could get out before he got closer to you, much closer. His face was only inches away from yours. You could feel his warm breath as he spoke with that smooth, deep voice, saying,

“Please, won’t you?” Those dark eyes flitting from your gaze to your lips and back.

“But what about your, you know, your significant other…”

Pure confusion. Lucien looked like the meme with that lady surrounded by floating maths.

“M-my what?” He began laughing, he had no clue what you were on about. He hoped that this was the only reason you seemed hesitant to kiss him.

“Your student’s were talking about you dating someone and I-”

“MC, they think I’m dating you,”

Lucien’s laugh was bellowing through the room, while you, on the other hand, were wishing you could climb under a rock. Everything clicked in your head, the reason why you had no idea who he was dating, was because he wasn’t actually dating anyone. You were so embarrassed, but ultimately relieved.

He stroked your cheek, moving himself closer to you as the laughs faded away. MC.exe stopped working. You froze while in your head you were screaming ‘Yes Please Sir!’ Unconsciously you were also moving closer. The fading sun trickled through the window shades, surrounding the two of you in flakes of golden light. Lucien took hold of your jaw. In his eyes you could see so many emotions, he was so complex, like a puzzle you couldn’t figure out. In this tender moment, you thought you saw regret in his eyes, regret and sorrow mixed together with passion and love, an intriguing cocktail of emotion. You knew that you might never get to know him fully, but this was good enough for you. In an opposite fashion of his brazenly asking you to kiss him, he cautiously moved forward, bridging the gap between your lips. Gently, he kissed you, he moved so softly, seemingly afraid of damaging you, damaging this moment. His mind was a hurricane of thoughts, but when you were there with him, it was silent. You gave him serenity. You gave him happiness. You gave him so many things that he was terrified to let go of.

The two of you moved together, only breaking contact to take a breath. When you had finally separated, he pulled you into him. His slender arms holding you to his chest. You could hear his heart beating like a drum. ‘This moment should never end’ you thought, and, just for one night, neither of you would let it. The rest of the night carried on with you in his arms, both of you intertwined, so much so that your heartbeats seemed to merge together in this bliss and newfound passion.

—————————————————————————————————-

Hope you liked this story! I can’t say I’m super into lucien personality wise, but i cannot lie, he’s the sexiest of the boys lmao

My prompt requests are open, so feel free to leave an ask!

edit: real question, are my last few posts just like really bad? I noticed that my likes and reblogs went down tremendously, and I would like feedback about why. Don’t be afraid to give criticisms, I just want feedback. Thanks for reading and there’s more to come

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jlalafics · 5 years

Note

i beg of u. on bended knee. please write peeta on bended knee. by which i mean proposing. to katniss ofc

You asked for it...and here you go--

______

The bar—per every Friday night—was hopping. Round tables were filled with customers, old and young, and the noise was deafening. However, that was exactly how the owners liked their customers—jovial, bawdy, and just there for a good time.

Katniss looked around before waving at one particular waitress before reaching her usual table in the middle of the room. As she pulled out a chair and sat down, another woman approached with a group of her girlfriends.

“This is our table,” she stated before looking to her friends who snickered in approval.

Katniss smirked, clasping her hands and placing them on the table. “No, it’s not.”

“I know the owner and he said that it was my table,” she persisted. “So, you can just move—there’s room for you at the bar.”

“I’m pretty sure that he didn’t,” Katniss stated plainly.

Agitated, the girl placed a hand on her hip jutting it out aggressively. “How do you know?”

“Because he’s our Dad and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t say yes to someone who’s insulting the heir apparent to his business.”

A golden-haired waitress, blue eyes cool and strong stance, appeared before the woman.

“My sister has had this table reserved since she spit up on it as baby—not to mention, I’m pretty sure that she was conceived on top of it.” The waitress nodded her head towards the exit. “Now, beat it before you make the wall of people barred from Everdeen Spirits.”

The women quickly scurried away, and Prim snorted before turning to her sister.

Katniss stood up, hands on her hips. “Do you really have to tell everyone that story?”

“It’s gives the table a little more distinctiveness,” Prim responded easily. “Plus, I’m pretty sure our parents have had sex on at least one of these tables. I mean, I caught them making out behind the bar just last night.”

“Gross.” Katniss pulled her sister into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you!”

“Well, that’s what happens when you move to the city with your boyfriend!” They both sat down. “How is living in sin with Peeta going?”

Katniss frowned, resting back against her seat. “It’s been good—but lately, he’s been…different.”

Prim leaned in curiously. “How so?”

“He’s been working a lot lately,” she explained. “Then, there are mysterious phone calls where he hangs up right when I walk into the room and he’s been skittish.” Katniss turned to his sister. “We’ve known Peeta since we were kids—he has a tell. When he’s lying or doing something obviously stupid, he does this adorable thing where he scratches the back of his head…like he’s trying to come up with a good excuse for whatever he did.”

Prim look unconvinced.

“You’re right,” Prim replied. “We’ve known Peeta long enough to know that when he’s lying or hiding something, he’ll get caught.” She flashed her sister a smile. “The man loves you and you’ve been blissfully shacking up with him for a year now. Trust him.”

“And, you don’t think that he might be cheating on me?”

Prim reached, smacking her in the back of her head.

Katniss scowled. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Because you sound like a dumbass,” her sister retorted. “You love him?”

She sighed, nodding her head. “Yes.”

“Then relax, enjoy Thanksgiving week with our crazy-ass family, and get excited for karaoke!”

“Since when do we have karaoke at the bar?” Katniss asked with a smile.

“Since drunk people love to post videos of themselves or their friends singing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ and tagging our bar,” Prim said. “I told Dad that it would be great for business and he agreed. Sometimes he even goes up there and sings—you know he has a voice of an angel.”

Katniss could see Darius, one of the head bartenders, setting up the microphone on the small makeshift stage.

“Oh yeah. Practically stole Mom’s heart with that voice.” Katniss smiled softly. “It’s nice to be home.”

Prim leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“It’s great to have you home. I’ll have Vick bring your usual.”

With that, her sister stood up and headed back to the bar.

++++++

Once karaoke got started, Katniss put her thoughts on Peeta aside. Prim was right; there wasn’t a bad bone in Peeta’s body, it was why she fell in love with him.

What was once a childhood friendship had turned into love during a middle school dance. After being dumped by her boyfriend, Cato, for a girl who looked like her but had bigger boobs, Peeta had come to her rescue and asked her to dance.

Then, under an overabundance of streamers and the sound of slow jams on the speakers, Peeta Mellark became her boyfriend.

Surprisingly to a lot of people, they had remained together from high school through college—attending separate campuses—up until now. She worked as a paralegal for Haymitch Abernathy, a prominent Manhattan lawyer while Peeta worked as a sous chef for famed chef, Beetee Latier.

They were content with their life together.

At least, she thought they were.

The volume of the crowd heightened when her father crossed the stage. Richard Everdeen, with his salt and pepper hair and kind coal eyes, became everyone’s dad as soon as they entered his bar and it was apparent in the appreciative applause as he took to the microphone.

“Hello darling!” Katniss turned to find her mother pulling out a chair across from her. They embraced before sitting down. “I would have been out sooner, but I was having a hell of a time dealing with these wine distributors.”

“It’s alright,” she told her mother. “You didn’t miss anything but a round of Journey songs and a really good rendition of ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody.’”

“I really just came to the front for your Dad.” Her mother’s blue eyes went soft at the man on stage. “And you, of course.”

Katniss chuckled. “Thanks Mom.”

“Oh, you know I love my first-born baby!” She gathered Katniss against her. “But I’m always hot for my man!”

“And, you wonder why you two were never popular with the other parents,” she responded.

Her parents were great, but they were a little more…boisterous than the staid parents that often ran the events at the girls’ schools. That never bothered Katniss or Prim though as their parents were as supportive as any parents could be.

The girls were often the top sellers during fundraising events as patrons at the bar would buy anything to support the Everdeen girls. Or whereas a parent might run a cotton candy booth during the annual springtime carnival, the Everdeens were the ones who ran the dunk tank which often featured her father promising a free bottle of wine or soda for anyone who dunked him.

“Who needs popularity?” her mother said. “We have each other.” She looked around. “Where’s Peeta?”

“He should be along,” Katniss said. “Had to work late…but he should be here soon—I hope.”

Peeta had texted his apologies, but he was once again caught up with the restaurant. He spent less time in their apartment the more successful he became.

Her mother gave her shoulder a squeeze. “He’ll be here sooner than you think.”

Katniss nodded, turning her attention to her father.

“Anyway, thank you for coming in for this new thing we’re doing. My girl Prim’s idea—” The crowd whooped and cheered for Prim who did a curtsey from the front of the bar. “It’s a joy to hear all your beautiful voices—”

“SING!” someone called out from the crowd.

Katniss looked around quickly before turning back to her dad.

“I guess we’re getting a request,” her Dad said with a humble smile. “I’m going to dedicate this to my wife. Pearl, darling, this might be a little past our time, but I think you’ll enjoy for many reasons. Also, Katniss, my oldest girl, is back home so I think she’ll enjoy this as well.”

The familiar strains of the song began, and it was like she was 12 again—all legs and arms with no tits, but feeling the beginning of womanhood and the beginning of love.

“Darlin' I, I can't explain

Where did we lose our way?

Girl, it's drivin' me insane

And I know I just need one more chance

To prove my love to you—”

There was a scrape of a chair and suddenly Peeta was sitting right next to her.

“Peeta!” She beamed at him. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

Peeta pressed a kiss to her lips. “Sorry I took so long…Beetee is so panicked about making sure that the holiday menu goes as planned.” He turned to Katniss’ mother. “Hey Mrs. Everdeen.”

“Hey sweetheart.” She stood up. “I’m going to grab a snack for you two—”

“Mom, it’s alright,” Katniss assured her.

“No, no…” Her mother was already heading away. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back!”

Katniss turned to Peeta, who took her hand. “I guess she’s giving us alone time.” She smiled at him. “I really am glad you’re here. Truthfully, I’ve been a little worried about us.”

Peeta frowned. “Why?”

“You’ve been so busy…and sometimes I feel like you’re keeping something from me,” she replied.

“I’m sorry.” Peeta gazed at her, earnestness in those blue eyes of his. “I don’t know why you put up with me sometimes.”

“Because I love you, dummy.” His mouth widened at her words and she slid her hand to his cheek. “Always.”

Peeta covered the hand on his cheek with his own. “Always.” He looked to Katniss’ father and nodded a hello. “Do you remember this song?”

“Of course,” she replied. “It was the first song we danced to—when I got dumped for being Miss No-Boobs.”

“Trust me, the boobs came and more than made up for the delay,” Peeta told her with grin. He stood up. “Dance with me.”

She looked around the crowded bar as everyone listened to her father singing the chorus. Some people were even singing along. “Here?”

“Yes. I want to dance with my girl,” Peeta insisted as he stood up, pulling her along. He wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her close. “I remember being so nervous when I asked you.”

“You were my hero,” she replied as they began to sway. “Imagine I was thinking that I was so heartbroken over Cato when you were in front of me all that time.”

Peeta met her eyes, suddenly nervous.

“I’m really sorry if I’ve been neglecting you. It’s just that I realized something; I don’t want you to be my girlfriend.”

Her heart suddenly ceased to beat, and she pushed away from him, her eyes filling.

“Then you don’t have to be.”

Katniss turned but Peeta still held her hand. “Katniss—”

“Let go!” She was full on sobbing in front of everyone. “I don’t need to hear anymore.”

Peeta obliged her and let go.

Katniss pushed past the rush of people, wiping her eyes. She couldn’t believe that he was dumping her in her family’s bar, on Thanksgiving week—

“I'm gonna swallow my pride

Say I'm sorry

Stop pointing fingers the blame is on me—”

Why the hell was Peeta singing?

She turned as the crowd parted and Peeta, mic in hand, walked towards her.

“I want a new life

And I want it with you

If you feel the same

Don't ever let it go…”

“What the fuck are you doing—”

Peeta stopped in front of her, falling to his knees, as he continued to belt out the bridge of the Boyz II Men ballad.

“You gotta believe in the spirit of love

It'll heal all things

It won't hurt anymore

No I don't believe our love's terminal

I'm down on my knees begging you please…”

“You really should get off the floor,” Katniss told him. “It’s disgusting.”

“Not until you hear me out,” Peeta told her.

Her dad was suddenly by their side and Peeta handed the mic to him. The music stopped and the whole bar turned silent.

“I don’t want you to be my girlfriend, Katniss, because you are so much more than that. You’re my best friend, my biggest supporter, my guidepost, and advisor…because I do some dumb shit sometimes—”

She scoffed. “That’s for sure.”

“And, just like that, you keep it real. You’re also my soulmate,” he continued. Reaching into his pocket, Peeta present her with a velvet box. “I’ve already mucked this up, but hopefully this will help you understand.”

Her hands shaking, Katniss took the box and opened it. “It’s a ring.”

Peeta chuckled.

“That it is. A pearl in the middle because you love them so much—and of course, it’s your mother’s name,” Peeta explained. “The two diamonds to the left and the right are for your father and Prim. If you look at the outside of the band, there’s a small engraving of the signet that I found when I was doing research about the Mellark family during our senior year and if you look inside—”

Katniss pulled the ring out and looked inside.

“Always,” she read out thickly.

“I don’t want you as my girlfriend. I want you as my wife,” Peeta told her. “So, I’m on bended knee—on this beer-stained floor—asking you if you will please…please…be my wife.”

From out of nowhere, her mother pushed her forward. “For God’s sake, Katniss, say yes to the boy!”

“Yeah,” Prim said from the bar. “That floor is so gross and I’m pretty sure he’s wearing Armani.”

“Will all Everdeens please shut up—” Katniss called out. She joined Peeta, going to her knees, and looking into his eyes. “—so I can say yes to the man who’s loved me since before my boobs came in?”

Peeta blinked back in shock. “You’re saying yes?”

“I’m saying hell yes.”

Katniss watched as Peeta slid the ring on her finger with trembling hands.

Standing up together, her fiancé pulled her close to cover her mouth in a deep kiss.

“She said yes!” Her father bellowed to the crowd. “Free beer for everyone!”

The bar erupted in cheers as Prim, wiping her eyes, dashed behind the bar to help the bartenders serve.

Richard held his hand out to his wife. “I guess we’re having a wedding.”

Pearl wrapped an arm her husband’s waist.

“Our daughter must really love Peeta,” she said, watching the newly engaged couple, lost in each other’s embrace. “Because with a voice like that—”

“Well, let’s just hope that the children don’t inherit his voice.”

FIN.

Song: “On Bended Knee” -Boyz II Men

#Everlark fanfiction #Everlark #Fluff #ModernAu!Everlark

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precuredaily · 4 years

Text

Precure Day 162

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 14 - “Karen, The Troubled Student Council President” Date watched: 3 December 2019 Original air date: 6 May 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/ZVrof8Y Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Karen has a big think

It’s Karen’s turn to hold the character development conch. This time, we get to see how she handles pressure from all directions! We also find out a little secret about Otaka-san and the school’s leadership. Good stuff, so let’s dive in!

The Plot

Various clubs approach Karen, aggressively requesting budget increases. The futsal club can’t afford new balls, the drama club can’t afford costumes, the judo club can’t afford new weights, the list goes on. Karen is taken aback and tries to explain the complexities of the situation to the students, but they are insistent. After trying to come up with a solution, she approaches the Vice Principal and explains her situation, requesting a budget increase for all the clubs. He is reluctant to change the budget that’s already been agreed upon for the year, but because he respects her decision to approach him, he will take it up with the principal. The VP goes to the Principal, revealed (to the audience) to actually be Otaka-san the lunch lady, but she insists that she doesn’t believe they need a budget increase, and there are still solutions the clubs haven’t yet come up with to resolve their budget woes. Komachi talks with Karen, commending her willingness to work hard for the clubs where before she probably would have simply said that the budget was already decided and they had to make do with what they had. The influence of their determined young friends is rubbing off on them.

Coincidentally, Nightmare is also having budget issues of a sort. Although they aren’t in a pinch, Kawarino is scolding Bunbee for blowing a lot of money without producing any results, and implies that his subordinates are useless and the whole department could get restructured. Bunbee decides to go fight the girls himself to get some results.

Back at school, Karen is still being hounded by the clubs, and her attempts at de-escalation aren’t working, so Otaka almost steps in, but Komachi is actually the one to put her foot down, startling everyone. She reminds the club leaders that they agreed to their annual budgets before the proposal was sent to the school administration, and that Karen alone cannot solve everything. With help from Nozomi, she gets them all to line up and explain their problems, to see if they can work together and figure out alternative solutions within their existing budgets.

The biggest offender is the drama club, which is going way over budget because they’ve picked a play with lots of extravagant costumes. However, Komachi gets them to work with the sewing club, who were looking for a platform to display their work, and the two split costs in this mutually beneficial agreement. The Judo club couldn’t afford to buy new weights AND new uniforms, but they also got the sewing club to patch up their uniforms so they could buy heavier weights, and donated their older ones to the futsal club. Now that she doesn’t need to buy weights, Rin can afford new balls, and donates the old ones to the art club, who find their shape and texture very inspirational.

I’d like to point out that the dumbbell Nozomi is struggling to lift is only 5 KG, that’s about 11 lbs.

With everyone’s issues resolved, the girls enjoy a moment of peace as Rin takes her new dumbbells to her club space, but on the way, Bunbee shows up to cause trouble. He turns the dumbbells into a Kowaina and taunts the girls about his own superiority. They transform and fight back, but he is pretty strong. When Mint shields one of the monster’s attacks, he launches a missile that breaks the shield, and he easily dodges when Rouge and Aqua try to fight him in the air. Dream and Lemonade have no luck fighting the Kowaina and they’re all left on the ground, defeated. Bunbee boasts about how much easier it is to do everything himself, and Aqua scoffs. She says she used to feel that way, but now she knows they’d never win if they did that, and the team springs into action. Bunbee tries to missile them again, and again Mint uses her shield, but this time Aqua also blocks it with Aqua Stream and this weakens it enough to bounce off the shield. Dream and Rouge restrain the Kowaina while Lemonade attacks it with Lemonade Flash, then the two throw it and perform their finishers. The Kowaina is destroyed and Bunbee retreats, self-justifying the day by saying you have to spend money to make money.

Back at the lunch table, Nozomi observes that Komachi might actually be stronger than Karen, which gives them all pause. Otaka comes over with a basket full of yakisoba bread, claiming the principal told her how they avoided a budget crisis, and suddenly people from all the other clubs appear, all vying for some of the free bread. Nozomi cries because the crowd beat her to the stuff she really wanted, and that’s the ending card.

The Analysis

What a fun episode. Karen’s commitment to the students is really earnest and inspiring. You can see why she’s the president, and even how much progress she’s made since the start of the show. Old Karen just cared about order, new Karen has the best interests of the students in mind and wants to meet them where they’re at. She fields the ire of the various clubs like a champ, trying not to get overwhelmed, and explaining the delicate balance that is adjusting budgets: since the budget has already been agreed upon, for her to allocate more to one group than previously agreed means the money has to come out of somewhere else, and that could put the other party in a pinch. Important financial lesson for the kids in the audience, too. And when her advice isn’t sufficient for them, she goes to bat for them by requesting assistance from the VP. My only criticism is that she probably should have asked why they needed more money first to see where their funds were tied up at, but honestly I would probably do the same thing, jumping straight to “let me get them what they say they need” and not “let me look into the situation more”.

When they get to the drama club and find out the reason they’re so over budget is because they decided to produce an expensive-ass play, I about died. LOOK AT THIS OUTFIT.

gosh I wonder why

There’s a lesson in here somewhere about working within your limitations. Urara suggests they do a simpler show like Kintarou, which would have costumes and props they could reuse in other shows, but from the club president’s response I get the impression they’ve done far too many shows like that and are sick of it. Also can’t fault them for doing something different. I remember in my junior year (11th grade), my school put on a production of “High School Musical” (this was when that was still a pretty fresh and hot property) and it sold like crazy, so the next year they were able to perform “Little Shop of Horrors”, renting the Audrey II puppets from somewhere. It’s okay to dream big, but you gotta make sure you can afford it. (inb4 ok boomer) However, working with the sewing club was a very good compromise. They get a platform to showcase their work, the drama club gets good costumes for cheaper, and they split the costs. Some of the other deals are a bit more one-sided but as long as everyone’s happy, it works.

By the way, Komachi’s restraint when the club president goes “oh yeah we spent all our budget on that one outfit and we need a bunch more” is remarkable. (I looked it up and I see similarities to Les Miserables: it’s a famous story that takes place over multiple generations and features LOTS of recurring characters) Komachi is, thankfully, very good at keeping herself in check, but if you manage to set her off, she is downright scary. That’s a common attribute for shield-based Cures, and it started here.

For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, since they only have a few of the costumes done, the drama club president is only ever seen in-costume, looking like a prince with a pencil mustache drawn onto her face. If we take the bold assumption that this all occurs in one day, even one lunch period, then this makes sense enough, but it’s still kind of silly.

The first half of this episode is so good, and tells a pretty complete story, that both times I watched it I forgot what kind of show it was because I was so absorbed in the antics of the clubs, so I thought the resolution was just going to be sorting out their budgets, when that was actually only the halfway point. The fight with Bunbee in the second half, while good, feels incomplete. I’m not sure if something got lost in translation for the subtitles, because he seems to indicate he spent money on a better Kowaina mask but the subs don’t reflect him saying this, only the girls’ response that it looks the same as normal. I do like them switching up their fighting style, and it comes with one of the strangest calls to action I’ve ever seen:

previously unsaid sentences in human history

The context is that, earlier in the episode, Nozomi and Urara traded lunch items, and now Karen is reminding them all to trade opponents and work together to beat the monster. Hilariously, even though Nozomi was the one who wanted to trade in the first place, she’s the last one to get this coded message, after Rin explains it to her.

She is special.

The elephant in the room here is that Otaka-san, the humble lunch lady who always adds a million onto every order, who appears a little disheveled, is in fact the school’s principal. Books and covers, ya know. I don’t recall if the girls every learn her secret, but it’s revealed to the audience here. I assume she serves as the lunch lady in order to get close to the students and understand what’s going on without calling attention to her position of authority. That’s the thing about power, even if you act relatable, if someone knows you’re way above them on the totem pole, they’re going to act differently, so she has put herself on the level of students. It’s like Undercover Boss except she never reveals the ruse. And honestly, it’s a very good ruse. She is approachable to the students and they all love her, so she can listen to their problems and make sure that the school is running well from the ground level. Also, as the lunch lady, she wears plain clothes, an apron, and flat shoes. Her only accessory is her trademark silver brooch. As the principal, she wears a suit, her hair is more tamed, she wears lipstick and earrings. She even speaks differently between her roles, sounding more raspy in her disguise, while she adopts a more formal and stern tone while acting as the principal. It’s impressive. I know she appears in this role at least one more time in the show, so I look forward to seeing that.

As usual there were some great moments of comedy, wonderful facial expressions, and you can see those chronicled in the gallery.

Next time, in Precure Daily, Nozomi’s mom is sick, so she has to do the housework! How badly will this end?

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 kettei!

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Yes! Precure 5 #YPC514 #PCD162

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jawnjendes · 5 years

Text

shawn meets... | aria

SUMMARY: in the life of a rockstar, shawn mendes comes across some unique people. sometimes, things stray from the norm. (AU, shawn x every one of my oc’s)(continuation of goth gf)

AN: time jump lmao. sry in advance.

***let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist

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aria’s [abandonded] origin story | aria’s playlist | masterlist

Eight months later.

Shawn was beyond tired. Shawn was not allowed to be tired. Shawn, the sun has almost gone down and we still have so much to do today! Stop sleeping and pay attention!

Honestly, nobody was keeping track of how many interviews had been done today. Shawn should have kept track, that way he would know how many were left before he was done for the day. He was only half listening to what his manager Andrew was saying.

“A lot of Internet stars want you these days,” he said. “This girl was the only one who had something interesting to do with you. Good thing you stayed in your sweats today.”

Oh yeah. A majority of the interviews Shawn did today were done over the phone. For some goddamn reason, he and his whole team had to move from place to place for each one. This was annoying, and this was Hollywood, apparently. At least he didn’t have to change for this interview, whatever it was going to be.

Andrew was leading the team through a plaza somewhere in Los Angeles. Shawn was just on autopilot at this point. He took a dinner break a couple of hours ago, but he just wanted to be done already. He wanted to go to bed, even if he wasn’t planning on sleeping. He couldn’t really sleep these days, and it was by choice.

The team stopped in front of a door that said “DANCE STUDIO” in white letters. As usual, Andrew made Shawn wait outside with Jake the bodyguard while the rest of the team went inside. It was a moment to let things sink in and breathe while he was almost alone. Shawn had to put on his happy mask once again, even if it was the last thing he felt.

“How you holding up?” Jake asked, watching him carefully.

Shawn knew what he was asking, but shrugged it off. “Just a little tired.”

“Nightmare,” he said with a nod.

“What? No, I don’t have those anymore.”

“I wasn’t asking, I’m telling you.”

He stayed quiet. It’s not like anything could be done about it right now. There’s other things to worry about. Andrew always told Shawn just to not think about it. Think about happier things, like walking into this damn studio.

Andrew came out of the room after a few minutes, gesturing for them to enter. Here goes another round of answering the same questions he’s been asked all day.

There were two studio lights stood on either side of a camera set up in front of the mirrors that spanned across the wall. It wasn’t the huge Hollywood set up he had gotten used to. There were chairs lined up against the wall away from the camera, and there was no crew either, just two girls handling everything. The life of YouTubers.

A blonde girl in glasses was fixing the lens on the camera, but she looked up and smiled at Shawn when he entered the room. The other girl with curly brown hair was doing the splits in the middle of the hardwood floor. She looked up as well, and was quick to get up and greet him.

"Hi! I'm Aria Mercer, it's so nice to meet you!"

Aria was very short, given that her head was tilted up to look Shawn in the eyes. She was in red sweats and a One Direction tee, making him feel better about his drab appearance.

"And I'm Sophie Jensen!" said the blonde as she approached the group. "We've heard so much about you! We love your music!"

Shawn grinned. "Thank you, it's nice to meet you too."

"So, you showed up in the appropriate attire, that's good," Aria said. "You ready to dance?"

Shawn's eyes widened. "That's what we're doing?"

"Your people didn't tell you?" Aria shot a mock disappointed look to his team, who had all collectively went to sit in the chairs against the wall. "But yeah, I'll be teaching you a few simple moves. Nothing dangerous or strenuous."

Sophie went back to the camera, looking into the viewfinder and pressing a button. "It's recording. Whenever you guys are ready."

For once, Shawn was glad Brian wasn't here to witness this. Lucky bastard got to go back to the hotel early. Still, he was going to see this in the foreseeable future, and that was enough to make Shawn nervous.

"Gotta warn you," he said to Aria, "I'm a huge klutz."

"It's okay, we'll have fun!" she reassured, and she reached over to rub his arm.

Her tiny hand left so many tingles on his skin. Shawn resisted the urge to scratch it away as Aria greeted the camera.

She didn't obnoxiously project her voice like other YouTubers. She wasn't like the rich socialites who were running the platform these days. She was a dancer, and she was bubbly and full of energy.

"Have you ever danced before?" she asked Shawn.

"I literally fall over twenty times a day," he replied. "Dancing feels out of my element, but I'm down to learning."

Aria giggled. "And you've got me as your teacher, so everything will be okay."

The first thing she taught him was the formation for a simple ballet turn. Shawn learned very quickly that standing on one leg with your toes pointed was challenging, to say the least.

"Okay, stay like that," Aria said, stepping towards him. "Let me fix your posture."

Shawn wanted to laugh, but he would lose his balance. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, Aria circling his body.

"Okay, relax your shoulders," she said, patting the area, "but squeeze your back muscles, it'll keep you straight. And squeeze your butt muscles too, it'll keep your legs straight."

She didn't touch that area, but her tiny hands were low on his hips. "Hm, so broad. You definitely have a dancer's body."

"Thanks?" he strained out.

"Elongate your neck as well, chin up."

His muscles were starting to hurt, clearly not used to having them flexed this way. He quickly gave out and lost the position.

"You do all that just when you turn?" he asked Aria.

"Claro que sí! And that's just the surface. There's spotting so you don't lose balance. And then there's the art of making it looks graceful and effortless."

With that, she did the turn. No, she did a pirouette, maybe five turns in a row. Shawn had a new appreciation for dancers now.

Aria taught him more moves, like the five positions of ballet. They were simple enough, but Shawn felt like his ankle might pop off during fifth position. He felt quite goofy with his arms up in the air, but Aria looked, as she said, graceful.

"And back to fourth, and plie," she said, bending her knees.

It looked easy, Shawn never skipped leg day. But with the position his feet were in, he was far from elegant. He couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked in the mirror.

"I take it you've danced your whole life?" he asked her.

"I have. And back to first."

"What's, like, the craziest move you can do?" he asked, now curious. He also wanted to see how flexible this girl was.

Aria tapped her finger to her chin as she thought about it. "Huh… good question. A fouette, I think. Either that, or an aerial."

"I have no idea what either of those things are, you have to show me."

An aerial, he quickly learned, is a no handed cartwheel. Aria took three large steps and practically did a front flip. Again, she was graceful as hell and made Shawn feel inadequate even though this wasn't a profession he planned to pursue.

A fouette was an incredibly complex turn that left Aria panting after she did ten in a row. She was a fucking champ.

When the video was done, the team was quick to rush Shawn, surround him, and get him to the next location. For once, he wasn't having it. He was quite taken with Aria after the short 30 minutes he spent with her.

"Wait!" he snapped, yanking his arm out of Jake's grasp. "Can't I thank our lovely host?"

Aria, who had quickly occupied herself by talking to Sophie, looked up in his direction.

"We have to go!" Andrew strictly told him.

"Just give me a minute!" Shawn said back.

With several stern looks, the team backed off. Shawn then approached Aria with more confidence than he should have had after being brutally humbled by the art of dance.

He put on his best smile. "Hey, just wanted to thank you for the experience."

"No problem." She smiled. "Showing people the way of dance is kinda my thing."

"Well, you're really good at it."

"Aw, thanks!"

Shawn looked at her, then at Sophie. Then, he gently took Aria's shoulder and led her away from the other girl. He cleared his throat before speaking again.

"Look, uh, tell me if this is too forward, but… I was wondering if you wanted to come by my hotel later tonight."

Her brown eyes widened, and then she looked down. "Dio mío. ¿En serio?"

Shawn blinked. "You just spoke Spanish."

"Sorry, I'm just a little thrown off. You're being serious?" She was blushing.

"Yeah. Kinda wanna see what else you can do with those legs." He smirked.

"Me va a dar algo," Aria mumbled. Then, she caught herself. "This is crazy."

He tilted his head. "How so?"

She chewed her lip as she looked at him. There was a look in her eyes that held the answer to his request. "You ever had like… a free pass? Like, you and your significant other talk about your crushes and which celebrity you'd go for. You're my free pass."

Shawn raised his eyebrows, flattered. "So that's a yes?"

Confliction spread on her features. "How long are you in town for?"

"I leave tomorrow." His heart started to race.

"I'll message you on Twitter later, okay? I, uh, need to see if I have something already planned."

"We have nothing planned!" called Sophie, obviously eavesdropping.

Aria's cheeks went even more pink as she looked at Shawn. "Okay, I guess I'm free!"

"Awesome. I'll send you the address." Shawn winked, even though he wasn't very good at it.

Still, Aria was beaming as she went back to her friend.

The only person who was supportive of this impulsive decision was Brian. It was a good thing Shawn brought him along on this weirdly wonderful journey. Shawn told him everything over dinner with the team, leaving out some details of the dancing part.

Brian high fived his friend. "It's about time you come back to your old self! Shawn the bachelor, revived!"

Shawn couldn't quite remember his old self. He hardly had any time to think about it. Brian sometimes reminded him of that old self, it was good to have him here.

"She was really hesitant," he said, "she might not even show up."

"But you took the initiative, and that's a good sign! Besides, if she ghosts you, it won't be hard to find someone else."

That was mildly comforting. More fish in the sea, and Shawn's sea recently expanded.

"Gotta get under someone to get over someone," Brian added.

Shawn couldn't argue with that. This Aria Mercer girl was a good place to start, given that she was completely different from the last girl he was with. This girl was smaller, and more bubbly. Flexible. Amazing curly hair. Shawn could definitely get down with someone who wears more than just one color.

If only he could find beauty in color again.

It wasn't until he was back in his hotel did Shawn start getting nervous. He sent Aria the address and his room number through a Twitter DM, forgetting to add a cheeky "can't wait to see you." After that, he jumped in the shower. Sure, it was just a measly hookup, but he wanted to be clean at least. He even made the effort to order a bottle of patrón to the room.

The bottle was delivered by the time Aria notified him of her arrival. Shawn thanked the room service person with a crisp twenty and quickly ushered them out. Shawn placed the patrón and two glasses on the table, and then checked his reflection in the mirror.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, but still jumped when there was a soft knock on the door. Maybe he should have waited an extra thirty seconds, because Aria still had her fist up when Shawn wandered.

She quickly put her arm down and grinned. "Hey."

"Hi. Come in," Shawn said.

His heart was pounding wildly when the two of them were officially shut inside the hotel room. Aria walked in front of him, making him get a look at her bare legs in tiny pink shorts. She placed her tiny backpack on one of chairs at the table.

Shawn noticed the golden lightning bolt and two clear circles on the pack, piquing his interest.

"You like Harry Potter?"

"Hm? Yeah!" Aria said. "I'm obsessed."

"What house are you?"

"Hufflepuff! You?"

Of course the first girl he hooks up with in months is the same Hogwarts house as-

"Gryffindor," he replied.

"Cool."

Silence fell between the two of them as they stood in front of the bed. Aria looked around the room, biting her nails. Shawn couldn't figure out how to step into the next part of this night. He wasn't typically nervous or awkward, but that was only because before this, he was getting intimate with the same person consistently. There was no reason to be nervous then.

"So, uh…" he trailed off.

"Do we just…?" Aria asked, taking a few steps closer.

Neither of them remembered hookups being this awkward.

"Do you want a drink?" Shawn asked, but Aria spoke over him.

"Come closer."

So he did, feeling his heart in his throat. Nervous energy radiated all over, it was almost suffocating. It wasn't the fun type of nervous.

"Closer," Aria said softly.

There was an inch of space left between them. Shawn was looking at her, but she wouldn't return the gaze. He gently placed his hands on her upper arms, slowly moving his head closer, bending more than usual given the height difference. This was like a bandaid that needed to be ripped off. Once that was done, then everything else could come naturally.

"I can't do this," Aria said when their noses were touching, her voice slicing through the silence like a knife.

He moved back, removing himself from her completely. His body suddenly felt much less tense, almost relieved. Before he could even think of anything to say, Aria kept talking.

"I thought I could do it because you're my free pass, and you're insanely gorgeous. But I need to be honest - I have a boyfriend."

Shawn felt his stomach drop. "You-"

"But he gave me his blessing!" Aria frantically interrupted. "I texted him, and he sent me a voice clip of his approval! You can listen if you don't believe me!"

She hurried to her Hogwarts bag, opening up the zipper and digging inside. Meanwhile, Shawn sat down on the bed, his mind spiraling.

He wouldn't have been able to do this either. Come to think of it, he wasn't even that attracted to Aria. He hardly knew her, apart from the fact that she posts dancing videos on YouTube. Hell, he didn't even think about what he wanted to do with her, he just went through the motions.

Aria turned back to Shawn, phone in hand. She stopped in her tracks, noticing his hunched shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Shawn didn't really speak of the ache in his heart to anyone. Again, there was just no time. Sometimes he was tempted to call Camila on the rare days off, but she was just as busy these days. He thought about texting Alessia, but she didn't speak to him anymore. Shawn didn't talk about it, but keeping it in wasn't doing it anymore.

"You were honest with me, so I owe you just the same," he began. "I only wanted to do this because I'm going through a breakup."

He expected her to scoff, or make some comment about how pathetic he is, but Aria simply sat down next to him. Her brown eyes were soft and sympathetic.

"Getting over someone by getting under someone." She echoed Brian's words. "I've been there."

"Hey, I'm sorry for putting you in this position-"

"It's okay," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I did the same thing when I was twenty years old. Actually, the guy I'm dating now was one of my rebounds."

Shawn cleared his throat. "Is that how you ended up together?"

"Nah, that's a whole other story. But while we're being honest, I have to tell you. Sleeping around isn't gonna heal your broken heart. A wise man once said that numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it."

Ain't that the fucking truth. Shawn felt the ache deep in his bones. It hurt so much it knocked the wind out of him.

"Did you love that person?" Aria asked after a moment.

Shawn couldn't stop himself. "I was so in love with her. She was the first person I ever loved, and it was everything I could have asked for."

"And it feels like you'll never find that again," Aria continued, rubbing his back.

Shawn nodded and took a breath. "Look, I'm sorry I'm dumping this on you. This is probably the opposite of what you expected to happen."

To his surprise, she grinned. "You're lucky I'm nice and have a need to protect heartbroken individuals. If you had hit up my friend Sophie, she would have kicked you while you were down. Besides, sometimes it's just easier to vent to a stranger."

Well, she wasn't wrong about that. Shawn felt more ramblings bubbling up the longer he sat with her. So maybe he would end up spending the night with Aria Mercer.

"Tell me about you, though," he told her. "I don't want this whole thing to be depressing."

The two of them sat up against the headboard, chatting for a while. Shawn learned a little bit more about Aria. She's been dancing since she was a toddler, but she took a hiatus from it after graduating high school. Her favorite color is red, she's a Virgo, and she graduated from that fancy university for vloggers two years prior. That's where she met her first love.

"I got really lucky that the first guy I dated was my first real love," she explained.

"The guy you're with now?" Shawn asked.

"No. That's Joe. My first love was named Dan," she said. "I gotta say, it's been almost five years since we broke up - and I'm very happy with Joe - but a small part of me is still soft for my ex."

Shawn nodded his head as he listened. "Why did you guys break up?"

Aria opened her mouth to answer, but she gave him a look. "You first."

"Fine, but we're opening that patrón."

She giggled. "Okay. I'll pour the glasses, you start talking."

For a moment, Shawn thought about it, thought about Ann. He hasn't seen her since the breakup. He has been back to Toronto in the four months they've been apart, but he never went looking for her. Why would he?

"She… she's insanely private," he began as Aria returned to the bed with two glasses. "She didn't want me talking about her in interviews, or even to my friends. I mean, people in our circle knew about us, but she always thought I was going to tell everyone her secrets or something."

"So paranoia was the cause?"

"I wouldn't say paranoia. I know she wanted her privacy, and I tried very hard to respect it. But people still managed to find her social media and some went to the extent of following us around in public."

Aria made a face. "Oof. I know what that's like."

"Yeah. I kept waiting for her to ask me to stay before they flew me out here. Kept waiting for her to tell me to drop everything and stay with her. But she never did. She pushed me to pursue this, and she chose to stay behind."

"That shows that she really loved you. She wouldn't let you give up all of this for her. We all make sacrifices for our careers."

Those words sunk in as they both took a drink. Shawn screwed his eyes shut momentarily as the bitter taste consumed him.

"Isn't all of this supposed to be worth it?" he wondered. "I know she's not the only girl out there, and she was incredibly different from me. But I haven't gotten the studio time I was promised. I haven't written a song in weeks. All I've been doing are photoshoots and interviews!"

Aria shifted in her seat, kicking off her shoes. "Hey, it will be worth it! Look, me and my ex broke up for kinda the same thing. He's also a YouTuber, and he was gonna go on tour. He asked me to go with him, to drop out of uni, but we were already falling apart. I just knew there wouldn't be room for me in his world. So we broke up, and I stayed in school. In that time, I formed a dance group, I got to interview one of my favorite bands, and I protested the shutdown of our campus."

Shawn took another sip of his glass. "Have you talked to your ex since?"

"Nope! Actually, he came out as gay last year, and I sent him a congratulatory tweet. He didn't reply." She chuckled sheepishly before draining her glass.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment. Then, Aria made a face, screwing up her eyes.

“We’re not pretending that this is good, right?” She held up her glass.

“Hey, it cushions the blow,” Shawn replied.

She scoffed and began typing on her phone. “You like slushies? Tacos? I’m postmating Taco Bell.”

Soon enough, they were munching on a 12-pack of mediocre tacos and putting patrón in their large Mountain Dew slushies. The mood lightened a lot quicker, and soon they were talking about other things. Soon, Shawn was laughing and half the patrón was gone. Boundaries and walls were coming down.

“What band did you interview?” Shawn asked.

“Five sauce,” Aria said. “It wasn’t even an interview. I made a dance to one of their songs and taught it to them. It was a jokey-joke video, but I got to talk to them and thank them for making amazing music.”

She pulled up the video on her phone and showed it to him. It was pretty hilarious to see the members of 5 Seconds of Summer try to dance as well as Aria did. It was like the video she did with Shawn today.

“I wanna meet them,” he said wistfully. “And I wanna meet Niall Horan.”

Aria gasped. “I love One Direction! Is Niall your favorite?”

“Honey, you have no idea.”

They talked about celebrity crushes. Aria’s were Demi Lovato, Liam Payne, and, still, Shawn.

“And I still didn’t make the cut,” he joked.

Aria smacked him shoulder. “We got this far. But evidently, I love my mans too much.”

“More than your ex?”

“Oh yeah.” Aria grinned to herself.

“You said his name is Joe, right? Is he a YouTuber too?”

That was when they fell down a YouTube rabbit hole. Aria showed Shawn her boyfriend’s videos, the ones she was in prior to their relationship. Apparently, they were friends for five years before becoming an item last fall.

“I don’t wanna talk too much about my love life, though,” she said. “Y’know, knowing that yours is…”

Shawn waved it off. “Hey, I’m feeling a buzz. I love love, even if I don’t have it. Tell me, girl.”

Aria thought for a moment. “Okay, here’s a fun fact. Me and Joe saw Bella’s video that had you in it.”

He gasped softly. “Really?”

“Uh-huh! So Joe looked you up on Spotify and, and it was raining too! We had a cozy day with blankets and kissing and stuff and we listened to your music. And…” She paused, smiling softly. “When You’re Ready was playing the first time I told him that I love him.”

“Dude… that’s fucking beautiful.” Shawn placed a hand on his chest and sniffed. “I wrote that song about my ex.”

Aria scoffed. “Well, now it’s about me and Joe! It’s a Jaria song!”

Shawn was going to remember that. It’s a Jaria song.

“Why don’t you just go to him now?” he asked her.

“He lives in London,” she replied. “I want to live with him, but neither of us can agree on a place to live. He likes it hot, I like it cold. I don’t wanna be too far from family. We’ve still got our careers to think about.”

“But you were going to hook up with me?”

“Because he told me I can! Look!” She picked up her phone again and played a voice clip.

A male, British voice filled the room. “Well, how often do you get to say you fucked Shawn Mendes? Go on, love, have your fun. But if Dianne ever comes round again, I’m shooting my shot!”

“Who’s Dianne?” Shawn asked.

Aria waved it off. “No one. But do you see? I was telling you the truth. Joe and I fucked a lot in the past and fucked other people too! It’s kind of an open relationship, or… it was. I need to talk to him about that now.”

“Wow…” A memory came to mind. “My ex wanted to fuck one of the girls from Little Mix.”

Aria sat up on her knees. “I love Little Mix! I’ve choreographed so many dances to their songs!”

“Show me!”

If Aria was sober she might not have done it. She stood up in front of the bed and performed little snippets to four different Little Mix songs. She was so passionate and happy. If only she was single, and if only Shawn wasn’t hung up on some flowers…

They didn’t sleep together, but they shared a bed. They both woke up early the next morning to loud knocking on the door. Having been through this for a few months, Shawn didn’t have to guess what it was. He was probably running late to something, or the team was just in a hurry to get the day started.

“I’m sorry,” Shawn sleepily mumbled. “You’re gonna face my manager.”

“Fun,” she mumbled back.

She rolled out of bed quicker than he had anticipated. She grabbed her shoes and stumbled to her Harry Potter bag on the table. Then, she gave Shawn a salute.

“See ya round, rockstar.”

“Hey,” Shawn called as he sat up. “Thanks for sticking around. I know you didn’t have to, and I really appreciate it.”

She smiled. “Let me know when you’re in LA or London or something. Maybe you’ll get to meet Joe.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know.”

“And listen, don’t let your people push you around all the time. They work for you. Demand more studio time if-”

More sharp knocks. Aria sighed.

“You have more power than you think,” she continued. “Demand more studio time. Demand counseling if you really need it. Don’t let them take advantage of you.”

Shawn nodded, feeling a pit in his stomach. “Thank you, Aria.” He stood up and went for a hug, his chin barely touching the top of her head. Who knew a girl that small could be so powerful?

Anyway, Aria made a quick but polite greeting to Andrew as she exited the hotel room. As soon as she was gone, the team filled her absence. Tiffany walked in pulling a clothing rack with today’s outfit choices. Anna came in with her bag of makeup and hair products, gesturing for Shawn to come sit in the chair by the table. Jake walked in looking strong and mighty as hell. Brian was the last one to enter, two coffees in hand.

He had an eager grin on his face as he approached his friend. “How was she?” he asked, handing him a coffee.

Before Shawn could answer, Andrew piped up.

“Speaking of women,” he said, “since you want to get over someone, we got someone else for you to theoretically get under. I talked to Justin on the phone last night, and he thinks it’s time everyone saw the romantic side of Shawn Mendes.”

“I don’t want a girlfriend,” Shawn said. “Actually, I have some stuff I wanna talk to you about.”

Andrew said nothing as he typed on his phone. When he finished that tasked, he disregarded everything his client had said. “You’ll like this girl. She’s a friend of yours, after all.”

next chapter

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taglist: @normalcyisoverrated-beyou @justordinaryjen @chillingbythesea @iloveshawnieboi @shawnsunflower @someoneunimportantxx

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes smut #shawn x oc #shawn meets fic #hehehehehehehehehehehehe #things are gonna get wweird after this

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forever-rogue · 5 years

Text

A Love in Snapshots

Summary: Brian had always been an avid photographer, but what happens when he surprises the love of his life, Y/N, with an album dedicated to their love?

A/N: It’s still me, still ya girl, with bs no asked for. I’ve been soft af for Bri lately, so this came to mind. I hope you enjoy! Taglists and requests are open! xx

Pairing: Brian May (can be read as Gwilym!Brian) x Reader

Word Count: 3.7K

Warnings: Fluff!! (also allusions to smut)

MASTERLIST (link on main page)

"What's this then, Bri?" Y/N asked as she spied a neatly wrapped present on the kitchen table. She had just gotten up, woken by the smell of breakfast that Brian was going on about making. He didn't respond to her at first, instead handing her a cup of coffee, just as she liked it of course, and pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her head. She beamed at him as she eagerly took the cup from him.

"Good morning love," he said softly and she couldn't help but giggle at her sweet boyfriend. He was always a soft and gentle soul, "go on and open it."

"What's it for?" she eyed him suspiciously before taking a sip and setting down her coffee, "it's not my birthday...please tell me I haven't somehow forgotten our anniversary!"

"It's not for either of those you silly girl," he chucked lightly at worried expression on his face, "just go on and open it."

"Bri-" she didn't get a chance to another word before he kissed her lips to get her to stop talking. After a few moments that she wished could have gone on forever, he pulled away, jerking his head towards the gift.

"Open," he commanded and she finally obliged, taking a seat and pulling the box towards hers. She made slow work of unwrapping it, not wanting to ruin the pretty paper he had selected. Brian felt like he was sweating bullets the whole time, nervous to her reaction at what was inside.

Lifting the lid off the box, she reached inside and her hands made contact with what felt like a leather bound book. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to figure out what it could possibly be. She deftly pulled the book out and quickly realized that it was a photo album. Pulling back the cover, the first pictures her eyes landed on her was off her three years ago backstage after one of Queen's shows. She and Brian had only been dating for a few months at time, but they were already crazy for one another.

"Bri, what is all this?" she asked softly, already feeling herself get emotional. She looked up at the tall lanky man, who had a small smile on his face but he just shook his head.

"Just go on and look through it," he insisted before returning to the kitchen to attend to the food. She watched him before doing what he said and started to flip through the pages.

She had a moment of clarity as she realized every picture was going to be of her or her and Brian. She smiled as the memories of each one came floating back to her, eyes getting misty.

"Brian! What are you doing?!" she giggled at him, half amused and half annoyed at the tall man. He only stuck out his tongue while shaking his head as he snapped a picture of her, "oh no! I look bloody awful and now you'll have that picture forever! I’m all sweaty and dirty!"

"You look lovely," he insisted a wicked grin on his face. They were all milling about backstage after another successful gig, drinks a plenty. Roger was already almost passed out, Deacy was pulling out his best dance moves, and Freddie was entertaining the crowd around him. Y/N had been talking to Brian when he got his brilliant little idea and went and got his camera.

"You're such a liar Bri," she insisted as she smoothed out the fabric of her dress. She walked over to him and quickly kissed his cheek, "but you're alright anyway. Even if you now do have an awful photograph of me. I hope you’ll at least treasure it forever!”

"I love you," he had blurted out suddenly and unintentionally. His face immediately turned a shade of brilliant red while Y/N watched him in stunned silence, the biggest of grins stretching across her face, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Do you mean it, Bri?" she asked, slowly closing the distance between their bodies. He nodded at her shyly in reassurance, feeling more nervous than he ever in his life, "because I love you too. Like a lot. It’s almost ridiculous."

"You do?" he couldn't get another word in because Y/N cut him off, feverishly kissing him, her arms snaking around his neck. It didn’t take long before he wrapped his arms around her and held onto her as tightly as humanly possible. How lucky he had felt that day.

Y/N flipped the page and studied the second photo. It was of her sitting on Brian's lap outdoors on a summer's day in Regent’s Park. The two of them were laughing about something.

"You're such a nerd, Bri," she giggled in his ear as he got an embarrassed look on his face. She noticed his immediate mood change and almost felt a pang of guilt for making him feel bad, "in the best possible ways."

"Oh?" he asked hopefully, looking up at her from under his long lashes. She nodded and touched his cheek gently. He had been telling her about some new research he had been doing it on his own time.

"Oi, love birds keep it family friendly!" Roger jokingly shouted at them as he and John ran around throwing a frisbee back and forth. Freddie shook his head at them as he continued sketching in his notepad.

"Shut up, Taylor! There's no reason to be jealous," she stuck her tongue at him as he repeated the gesture. Brian only laughed at them; sometimes they bickered like two school children, "he's such a dork."

"Typical Rog," Brian agreed quietly as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She sighed in content as she leaned against him, lacing her fingers through his long ones.

"I do mean it, Bri. You're a brilliant man, and an expert scientist," she said as she pressed a kiss to the back of his hand, "one day we'll all he calling you Dr. May."

"That'll never happen," he scoffed lightly at her, "not at this rate with this lot."

"I think you'll end up surprising yourself, love," she said softly as started to stand up. She reached for his hand and got him to follow her, "for someone so brilliant you'd think you'd have more self confidence."

"I do have some," he murmured but she only giggled and kissed him. For all the things he had accomplished and was talented in, he always remained humble and modest.

"I know, Bri," she promised him, "and just remember I'll always be on your side. I love you for all that you have been, all that you are, and all that you will be. And I promise you'll be a legend my dear."

His cheeks turned a bright crimson as they had the tendency to do when he was flustered. He had a big smile on features and could only nod in response.

"Come on, then! Let's show Rog and Deacy how to actually play with a Frisbee," she started running after the drummer and the bassist, Brian's long legs easily catching up with her.

Y/N felt herself choking up as she looked at the next photograph. It was of her, red faced and teary eyed, standing in the airport, eagerly awaiting Brian and the rest of the boy's return from their overseas tour.

"Brian!" she had shouted as she ran over to him and jumped in his arms almost knocking him over. Once he steadied himself, he held her tightly and kissed the top of her. He had missed her like crazy and to finally have her back in his arms felt like heaven, "you're really here!"

"I'm really here," he agreed as he slowly set her down. He studied her for a moment, looking to see if there was any change that had occurred while he had been away. Nothing was really different, but he swore she looked more beautiful than ever, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Bri. Nothing's the same without you," she said as he took her hand in his and they started to walk away from the crowded terminal, "besides your side of the bed is so cold when you're gone."

"Is that all you love me for?!" he pretended to be hurt as she gently nudged his side.

"Duh," she teased, "you're a warm, tall boy. That's all I need really."

"This what I have to look forward to coming home to?" he was being so dramatic but he knew she loved it.

"Of course not my sweet boy," she said as she swung their entwined hands, "but I do have a surprise for you at home."

"Oh?" he raised his eyebrow suspiciously at her. He had a few things in mind that he could think of that he had been missing out on.

"You're so cheeky!" she said as it was turn for her cheeks to heat up. She had definitely planned that sort of surprise for him, but that wasn't what she was trying to convey to him, "sorry to disappoint you but it's only something edible."

"But you are edible-"

"Brian Harold May!" she almost shouted at him, causing the other boys to look at them with questioning looks. Roger had a smirk written on his face indicating he had a good idea of what was going on, "I take it back, you're not getting anything."

"You're so mean," he pouted at her, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. She stopped walking away for a moment and tried to give him a serious face, but it didn't last long.

Instead she pulled his face towards hers and peppered it with kisses, not caring who was watching them. After a few moments she had to stop herself because she knew if it continued on any further, she couldn't be able to stop her and she's be begging him to take her then and there.

"What was that for then?" Brian smirked at her, and she just shook her head and they continued on like nothing had happened, "you're a little minx, you know that?"

"Yeah, well you've been gone for months and then start teasing me?" she countered, "you haven't touched me for months. I'm going to get impatient soon, so unless you plan on taking me here and now, you control yourself."

"Best get going home as quickly as possible then," he took her hand and led her quickly through the airport, causing her to giggle at him.

"Why are they in such a hurry?" Deacy asked so he watched the two of them. Freddie just laughed but Roger shook his head, bemused.

"They're eager to have a shag obviously," Roger yelled and Deacy's face slowly turned into a look of horror, "at this rate they'll be doing it on the bus home."

"Ohhhhh."

Smiling at memory, she continued on, finding a picture of herself lying in bed, a sleepy smile on her face, hair splayed over the pillow. It was the morning after the first time they had slept together.

"Bri, what do you think you're doing?" she groaned as she stretched out her arms, a yawn escaping her lips, "I swear if you ever show that to anyone else, you won't live long enough to say sorry."

"Don't worry love, that one is just for me," he promised as put his camera away. He crawled back into the bed, kissing her gently as he pulled the covers up. She snuggled up to him, loving the warmth that his body gave off.

“I love you so much,” she said as she rested her head on chest, listening to the beating of his heart. Brian put his arm around and held her close as he mumbled sweet nothings into her ear. She wished they could stay like the forever, but unfortunately, they both had jobs to go.

“I love you too,” he said softly as he closed his eyes again, “can we just bunk off today and stay here?”

“I don’t think either of us are at liberty to do that,” she sighed, as he huffed, “I need to go into the office and I think the boys would kill me if you missed anymore rehearsal. I’m pretty sure you’ve already missed plenty due to me.”

“It’s worth it,” he reassured her, kissing the top of her head. Her eyes crinkled in the corners, just as he had lovingly memorized as she let out a delicate laugh. She leaned up and took a moment to stretch, looking outside the window at the brisk morning. Standing up, she scurried out from under the covers, reaching for the nearest article of clothing to cover herself with from the cold. Brian’s grin stretched across his face as he realized she was wearing his shirt from last night.

Walking over to the mirror, she studied herself for a second, surprised to find love bites all over her neck, “Bri! Look what’ve you done to me!

“What?” he asked innocently, a devilish grin on his face. She turned around and glared at him, her hands on her hips.

“You’ve gone and marked me all up,” she said in an exasperated tone, gesturing wildly to her neck, “I can’t go to work like this and no amount of makeup will cover this lot up!”

“So we can bunk off?” he asked hopefully and she just rolled her eyes, “if nothing else, you can and then come with me and the boys!”

“Was this your grand plan all along?”

“No, but it just happened to work out,” he smirked to himself, proud like a smug child. She wanted to be annoyed with him, but she couldn’t with his face. Instead, she walked over to him and put her arms around him and kissed his cheek, “come with me?”

“Fine, Bri, you win this round,” she obliged him and his face light up with excitement, “I’m going to go shower and change before we leave. I suggest you do the same after last night.”

“Y/N?” he asked as she started to head to the bathroom.

“Hmm?”

“I like the way you look,” he said, almost shy all of a sudden, “in-in my shirt. It looks good on you.”

“It looks even better off,” she winked at him, “want to come to the shower and find out?”

“You’ll be the death of me, love,” he lowly groaned as he quickly padded after her into the bathroom, where they wasted no time in turning on the shower and getting in.

Y/N felt her cheeks grow hot as she flipped the page. The last photo had brought back very vivid memories. Brian had never made it to rehearsal that day – instead they ended up staying in bed all making love to each other.

Looking at the next photo, Y/N found herself looking a picture of her lying on the couch, curled up in a big blanket, looking tired and worn out, clutching a mug of tea. She had been just gotten over being sick. Brian must have took it when she wasn’t paying attention.

“I feel like a potato,” she sighed as she sipped on the hot tea Brian had brought her. She had been sick with the flu for several days and hadn’t been able to do much of anything, but Brian, being the diligent boyfriend that he was, had stayed home with her making sure she had everything she needed. She had insisted he didn’t for fear of getting him sick, but he paid her no mind and doted on her.

“If you’re a potato, you’re the most beautiful potato I’ve ever seen,” he insisted as he sat down and pulled her into his lap, “and the tastiest.”

“Briannnn,” she laughed at him, but it quickly turned into a cough, “ugh. I look awful and I’m just whining about everything. You should go out and enjoy the evening with the boys.”

“You’re as beautiful today as you ever are,” he promised her, and he meant it. She was always beautiful to him, no matter what state she was in, “and a little whining never hurt anyone. I want to stay here with you.”

“But-“

“But nothing,” he stopped her by pressing his finger against her lips, “we’ll stay in, I’ll get us some takeaway, and we can watch a film. Or play some scrabble, I believe we’re about due for a rematch.”

“You’re just salty that I kick your ass every time,” she smirked at him, a gleam in her eyes.

“Am not,” he mock glared at her, “and regardless, we’ll have a good night in, just the two of us. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” she agreed, letting go of the mug with one hand and touching his cheek gently. She often wondered how she got so lucky by meeting Brian. Running into him, quite literally, at the university library had been the best day of her life, “I love you, Bri. Thanks for taking such good care of me.”

“Of course love,” he said as he played with a strand of her hair, “you know I’d do anything for you.”

Her heart fluttered at his words; she put her cup down on coffee table, and readjusted herself so she sat facing him still in his lap. He chucked affectionately at her, putting his hands on her hips to help steady her. She studied his face for a few moments, reaching up and running a hand gently along his jaw line, “I don’t think words can adequately describe how much you mean to me. Every day spent with you is the best day of my life. It always gets better, and knowing you’re by my side is...the best.”

“You should be sick more often,” he joked as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers, “you’re way sweeter this way.”

“You’re such a jerk,” she glared at him, knowing he was joking, “I take it all back.”

“No, you don’t,” he winked at her before pressing a kiss softly to her lips, “I love you too, pretty girl. I love you to the moon and back. Even the stars have nothing on you. You’re the only one I want to spend the rest of my life. The only one I want to come home to.”

“That’s better,” she sighed contently. She closed her eyes and breathed in his familiar scent - her favorite scent, “now. Get that scrabble board and prepare to have your ass kicked.”

“Oh? Is that so?” he said as he leaned back, “it is on, it is so on!”

Y/N wiped at her eyes with the corner of her sweater as she flipped to the next page. This one was different - it was still empty. Brian interrupted her thoughts as he stepped back into the dining room, setting a plate in front of her. She looked up at him, misty eyed, the biggest of smiles on her face.

“Do you like it?” he asked her, a nervous smile on his gentle face. All she could do was nod as she tried to search for the right words to describe exactly how she was feeling, “I was hoping you would.”

“Bri,” she finally said after a few moments, “this is the most wonderful thing. I love it. I love you.”

“I love you, darling,” he said as he sat down next to her, kissing her cheek gently.

“There’s empty pages, though,” she pointed to the page she had just landed on, “and you’ve never told me what this is for.”

“They’re empty because they’re waiting to be filled. It’s our story, and there’s going to be plenty more to come. I figured we could add more photos in over the years,” he explained, wondering if she would still like it or think it too cheesy.

“I love it,” she said as she grabbed his lapels and pulled him in for a kiss, trying not to cry more, “that’s so thoughtful of you, Bri.”

“I-I...” he grew nervous, as his plan all came into reality. He had planned this for months, waiting for the right moment to give it to her, “I have an idea for the next photo in there.”

“Oh? What would that be?” she asked. He suddenly got up, surprising Y/N, before reaching into his pocket and getting down on one knee. Her eyes widened as she put two and two together.

“I think the next picture should be of us, on our wedding day,” his voice almost cracked because he was so nervous, “Y/N, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she wasted no time in answering, causing Brian to be the one who was misty eyed. He got back up and put the beautiful ring on her finger, and wrapping her up in his arms. She clung onto him as she cried into his shoulder, words unable to express her happiness.

“I love you, Y/N,” he said kissing the top of head, “I can’t believe I’m going to get to be your husband.”

“Y/N May,” she said quietly, “I think it has quite a nice ring to it. I’m a very lucky woman, Bri. No one could ever ask for a better man.”

He put his hands on either side of her face as he kissed her with meaning; soft and sweet but passionate, just like him. She pulled back from him, quickly running out of the room, but saying nothing, leaving a bewildered and confused Brian.

After a few seconds, she ran back in, clutching her Polaroid camera to her chest. Brian noticed, and a smile played on his features.

“Come here,” she pulled him close and held the camera at arm’s length, making sure both of them would be captured. She surprised by him by sneaking in a kiss to his cheek, just as she snapped the picture, “this one’s going next in the book. The day you asked me to marry you. I think it’s perfect.”

“You’re perfect,” he said as beamed at her, “should we gone on and call the gang then?”

“Not yet,” she said, taking care to set the camera down and tucking the photograph safely away, “they can wait a little bit. You cannot.”

“I can’t wait for what?” he asked as she grabbed his hand, fervently pressing kisses all over him as she pulled him along to their bedroom. He suddenly got what she meant as eagerly followed her. How did I get so lucky? he wondered to himself as he followed the his bride to be and love of his life.

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godknowsqueen · 5 years

Note

Ben x reader request. Reader has been playing drums for as long as she could hold drumsticks, but she doesn’t like to tell people. So when her bf Ben is learning to play for his new role and there’s this one part of a song he’s just not getting and she’s getting so frustrated him because the parts is so easy and she shows him how it’s done. ❤️

now i’m here ; ben hardy x reader

Warnings: Swears, fluff, and bad drum techniques bc i know nothing about playing drums , and very slight smut hinting in the very end

A/N: thanks for sending this in!!! such a cute idea :’)) it also taught me a lot about the anatomy of a drum kit, i had no idea it was so complicated like damn. Feedback is always welcomed, guys! :D AND I’M OPEN FOR REQUESTS!

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Bloody hell!” Ben’s voice rang throughout the house.

There was an angry vibe all over the place. Ben was angry. The drums sounded angry. You were starting to get angry with all the commotion happening for the past hour.

It was more of frustration rather than anger. You could see Ben struggling with the drums. He finally landed the role of his dreams, which is bringing Queen’s Roger Taylor younger self to the big screen.

Only problem is that he wanted the role so bad he lied about being an expert at drumming.

You admired the bravery of lying about something so vital to the role, but it also frustrated you how far he is willing to go for that role.

You walked out of the bedroom, wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt. Your signature Sunday morning lazy outfit. You decided to head to the kitchen and pour two cups of juice with some ice in them. He needs something refreshing, you thought.

Walking to the living room, the drum noises started getting louder. A very confused Ben sat on the stool behind the drum set, hitting his drumsticks here and there. You could tell that he was trying to play “Now I’m Here”.

He didn’t notice that you entered the room up until you were right in front of the drum kit. Ben looked up from the set at you, looking visibly tired, but he still managed to give you a small smile.

“Morning, love,” he let out a sigh, spreading his arms open for you to fall in. Since he was sitting down, you wrapped your arms around his head as he let his head rest on your stomach, his arms wrapped around your lower body.

“Morning, Ben. Or should I start calling you Roger?” you giggled, trying to make him feel better as you pulled out of the hug to hand him the juice cup.

“Ah, with my shitty playing, I don’t think Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor will ever see the light of day,” he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

You watched him take a sip before making a statement, “Benny, you play the drums pretty well. It’s just certain parts of certain songs that you aren’t getting right. You can’t move forward if you keep bringing yourself down, love. Give yourself some credit.”

“You’re right, (Y/N), I just,” he let out a shaky breath, “I just really don’t want to lose this opportunity. And I have nearly perfected the songs in the movie, it’s just that part in ‘Now I’m Here’ that’s driving me crazy,” he held your hand, rubbing circles with his thumb.

You couldn’t take the sight of his gloomy green eyes anymore, “Yeah, I know that part can get tricky.”

“I know right! It sounds hard, and even harder to play!”

“I know, it took me quite a while to perfect it,” you muttered, hoping that he’d catch on what you just said.

“That’s what I’m trying to- Wait, come again?” he shot you a deeply puzzled look.

“Well, I kinda forgot to tell you about that,” you confessed, shifting uncomfortably in your seat.

“We’ve been together for months and you kinda forget to tell me that you know how to play the drums?”

“I don’t really share that particular piece of information. I just never thought I’m that good, so I kept it to myself. I’ve wanted to help you several times with training, but I didn’t want to mess up your own pattern of training,” you looked at him in a somehow apologetic manner.

“(Y/N), don’t be shy to share anything with me. You could probably scream into a conch shell and I’d still be amused,” Ben’s words made you chuckle, relieving you of the guilt that you had never told him about your drum skills.

“Wow, you do like me a lot, don’t you?” you softly poked his side, attempting to teasingly tickle him.

“You could say so,” his lips twisted into a cheeky grin, proceeding to give you a light peck on the cheek.

“Well, in that case let me help you with that cursed part because now I’m here, get it? Get it?”

“On second thought, I don’t need your help anymore,” he squinted at you, his smile failing to show his disapproval of the pun you just threw.

“Shut up, Hardy,” you snickered, bringing yourself behind his seat. You handed him the drumsticks and gently placed your hands over his.

“Okay, so judging by your playing all day, the entirety of the song is good. Maybe a little more practice to make it better, but it’s just good. The part you mess up is the one accompanied with the piano and guitar solo, yeah?”

Ben nods in agreement, his hands starting to relax underneath your grip.

“The tricky thing is that you have to quickly alternate between the bass drum and the closed hi-hat. After you strike both twice, you then move to single strike the snare and the open hi-hat. May I?” you asked him to take control of the drum kit.

“Please,” he gets up, and you noticed his eyes spark with curiosity.

You sat down, twirling the drumsticks between your fingers as a form of preparation. It’s been weeks since you last played, so your hands might be a little rusty. You smoothly started beating the drums to the pattern you explained to Ben only a couple of minutes ago. Your playing wasn’t rusty at all, as you’ve expected earlier, and you found yourself humming the guitar solo to help guide you through the beating of the drums.

You ended the pattern of beats by singing aloud, “Keep yourself alive, wow, keep yourself alive! Oh, it’ll take you all your time and money to keep me satisfied!” You got up from your stool, giving Ben the chance to take his seat.

Looking at Ben, you could see his lips were slightly parted as his eyes looked at you with so much admiration.

“(Y/N)! How could you possibly make this look so bloody effortless?” His hand gripped your arms, “That was so fucking cool, darling!” Ben let out a laugh full of happiness at your abilities.

“Thank you, love,” you shyly replied, taking his hands in yours and looking him in the eyes. Ben was still smiling at you, his smile getting wider as a humble blush crept up on your cheeks.

“Now, let’s get you to play this even better than I did!” you excitedly dictated, pushing him to take a seat behind the kit again.

After a couple of hours, it was time for Ben to demonstrate his skills at playing the entirety of “Now I’m Here”. He took a deep breath and gulped, preparing himself for the performance. You gave him a thumbs up and a heartwarming smile, saying with your best made up British accent, “Go, Roger!”

He giggled a little before starting to beat the drums. After a while of playing the song’s beginning perfectly well, he reached the part that was driving him crazy earlier. You could tell his face’s features were getting more focused, determined to not mess this up in any way. In anticipation, you watched him hit the beats correctly.

As the part came to an end, you could feel his face getting more relaxed, a genuine grin spreading across his face. You admired his happy expression, the afternoon sunlight coming from the window making his face even brighter as it made his green eyes look almost transparent.

You were fighting the temptation to clap, but you didn’t want to distract him in any way. As the song eventually came to an end, he played the beat to the final drum pattern, and victoriously let his drumsticks fly in the air.

Swiftly, you both stood up from your places and ran into each other’s arms, his hands grabbing your waist and lifting you up as he twirled you around.

“YOU DID IT! You did it you did it you did it!!!” you squealed like a little girl, giving him several quick kisses on his cheeks. Ben set your feet down on the floor again, his laughs filling the room. Your heart was genuinely glad that his happiness was now replacing the anger that filled the room earlier.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, (Y/N). I would’ve probably had that drum kit file a restraining order against me by now,” he softly ran his thumb across your cheek, then tucked a stranded hair behind your ear.

“I’m glad I could help. If I realized that I could, I would’ve helped you long ago,” he lifted your chin up, noticing that you felt a little guilty.

“Please don’t feel even a little bad. I think you need to give yourself credit as much you were telling me to give myself credit earlier. You really do play amazingly well, love,” he confessed, earning a beautiful smile from you. You loved these moments where you two supported each other’s success.

After a few seconds of silence, Ben slowly pressed his lips on yours. He then took your upper lip between his lips, allowing his tongue to tickle it a little and making you quietly laugh amidst the kiss. His hands pulled at your hips, as your hands laid calmly on his chest. He separated his lips from yours, and muttered a quick “I love you” before placing another quick kiss on your lips again. He repeated the pattern of I love you’s and quick kisses a few more times, making you laugh a little at how adorable he was being.

“If that’s how I’ll get paid for tutoring you, then I’ll happily do it everyday,” you tried to escape his grasp on you to properly look him in the face.

“Oh, love, I’m already thinking of better ways to repay you.”

#Anonymous #ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy x you #ben x reader #ben hardy imagine #bohemian rhapsody #bohrap #bohemian rapsody movie #bohrhap #bohemian rhapsody cast #roger taylor

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themurphyzone · 5 years

Text

Oneshot: Lollipops and Burritos

Summary: How does a studious man with big dreams and a slacker with no regard for the rules become partners? Easy, just make your own rules.

Spoilers for First Impressions!

Seriously I loved the Dakavendish in this episode like there’s so much it’s not even funny well it is but you know what I mean! Imma stop rambling now and get on with the story!

This was it. Today was the big day. On August 26, 2168, Balthazar T. Cavendish would pass his driving test with flying colors and become a full-fledged agent of the Bureau of Time Travel, an agency dedicated to protecting the delicate space-time continuum from evildoers, miscreants, and the shadowy Marmoset League.

Agents had it all: limousines with aquariums, high society parties, stylish tuxes and gorgeous dresses, and most importantly, recognition for their efforts in saving the world.

Cavendish always aimed high in his goals. What was the point of setting them if you didn’t aspire to achieve great things? When he was young, he dreamed of being a famous concert pianist.

Mozart had been invited to play in a royal palace when he was but a young lad. Beethoven composed despite his deafness. With the great composers of history as his inspiration, Cavendish had practiced and practiced until every note, rhythm, and key signature was burned into his mind.

But he was just a small fish in a big pond. He’d competed against children who fiddled before they walked, and the judges overlooked him despite his efforts to play everything as written in the piece.

So he turned to law in the Queen’s court instead. Barristers were fair, thorough, and had extensive knowledge of the precedents regarding a case. He would help the judges deliver justice for the innocent and punishment for the guilty.

Then Queen Elizabeth IV banned him from the royal palace for life because he dared to call her out for her refusal to compensate a florist for the damages that her precious corgi, Mr. Marshmallow Biscuit Longfellow, caused at his shop.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

He refused to go back anyway since Mr. Marshmallow Biscuit Longfellow urinated on his favorite suit and he had no choice but to throw it away.

Then Cavendish went back to school, taking classes such as Theoretical Mathematics of Time Travel and How to Avoid Erasing Yourself from History 101 until he’d earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Time Travel. Then he applied for a job at the BoTT and the rest was history.

Cavendish spent three harrowing months studying for this driving test. An important part of driving was knowing the car’s mechanics after all.

And when he passed, he’d be a full-fledged agent!

Despite his nerves, he forced himself to concentrate on his electronic manual for this particular model of time travel vehicle. Student drivers used basic 2160 Tempos for easy handling and an auto-pilot to help get them back on track if they accidentally wound up in the Dark Ages.

But if he clawed his way up to the S-Rank in BoTT, he could earn enough to buy a highly coveted 2167 Chronos Satellite, which was equipped to fly in the lower regions of space while providing a steady oxygen supply, temperature control, and enough safety features so that the driver didn’t accidentally hurtle to earth in a fiery blaze.

“The Time Delineation gear is for quick trips in local space, allowing you to move three times faster than local time,” Cavendish recited. He knew the book forwards and backwards by now, but last-minute cramming never hurt anyone.

“Alright, Cavendish,” he said as he stored the manual. Sounding confident was key. “You are on your way to becoming a fully-fledged time agent! This deserves a lolly!”

Alright, so he couldn’t resist a black currant lollipop. It was the best flavor on the market in his humble opinion.

Then the driver’s door suddenly opened, and before he knew it, he was unceremoniously shoved into the passenger seat by some...some hoodlum with the largest afro Cavendish had ever seen in his life.

The world was a cruel mistress. He spent all this time studying for this moment, and the payoff was being carjacked by some greaser who thought he looked good just cause he wore a leather jacket.

And to add insult to injury, the jerk wasted his last black currant lollipop.

Dakota liked food, music, and movies. He was just a simple guy with simple pleasures. While he’d be perfectly happy working in restaurant jobs for the rest of his life, it didn’t pay the bills.

Companies preferred robot workers these days. More efficient and less costly, they argued.

Most human servers worked in small family-owned restaurants, but they’d be out of luck in a few months when the patrons inevitably moved onto more snazzy, well-known businesses.

Two weeks ago, Dakota had the bright idea of dressing up like a robot and seeing how well he could imitate his mechanical co-workers at a popular fast-food joint. It worked for a few hours, but his appetite got the better of him and he was caught stealing chicken strips on camera.

He’d been carted off to jail and charged with impersonating robots without a permit. Humanity had advanced to flying cars and time travel, but they’d never been able to fix the justice system.

On the plus side, the incident had given Dakota the idea to get a permit so he could legally impersonate a robot.

He discovered the eviction notice after he’d been released from his week-long stay in jail. There just hadn’t been enough money to pay rent and groceries. He could pay rent and starve, or he could pay for food and allow himself to be kicked out.

It wasn’t a hard choice, nor was it a total loss. Dakota was already a recruit for the BoTT, and they had many private study rooms. They called it a study room, Dakota called it his bedroom, but either way, it was a room.

And the cafeteria food was delicious.

The morning of August 26, 2168 was just like any other. Dakota scarfed down his eggs and French toast, topping it off with a glass of orange juice. As he prepared to sweet-talk Penelope the mechanical cafeteria lady into giving him a second batch of eggs, the intercom beeped.

“New time agent recruits, please select a vehicle for your driving test. If you survive today, you’ll get your first assignment and partners tomorrow. Thank you,” a bored man in some serious need of coffee announced.

For some reason, the announcement had given him a craving for one of Rita’s burritos in the 21st century.

“Yo, Penelope, that a new ocular lens on ya? Looks good. Say, how ‘bout holding a few chocolate muffins for me? I’ll pick ‘em up later,” Dakota said, leaning on the counter lazily.

“My circuitry is heating up,” Penelope monotoned.

Though she had no outward forms of expression, Dakota knew from experience that circuitry heating up was the equivalent of blushing and that she would honor his request.

With everyone scrambling to file last-minute digital work (paper had been completely phased out), the path to the holding bay for student vehicles was clear.

After a brief round of eenie-meenie-miney-mo, Dakota headed over to the winning vehicle and opened the door, which thankfully wasn’t locked.

“Slide over, stretch. I need a ride,” Dakota said as he shoved the driver—a tall man with ginger hair and thick-rimmed glasses—aside and made himself comfortable.

“Wait a minute, who are you?” the other man asked indignantly. His accent was overly posh like one of those fake Brits on TV. He held a purple lollipop in his outstretched hand, and Dakota snatched it up, much to the other man’s dismay.

He was kinda funny actually, so Dakota decided to name him Stretch.

“Is this for me? Thanks!” Dakota exclaimed as he stuck the lollipop in his mouth. Something to suck on for the road couldn’t hurt.

Then an extremely bitter flavor exploded across his tongue, and Dakota yanked the lollipop out of his mouth, exclaiming his disgust for Stretch’s choice in flavor.

“BLECH! What flavor is this?” Dakota asked in disgust. He was going to need some extra salsa to get rid of this gross flavor that had no right existing.

“Black currant,” Stretch enunciated carefully, his eyebrows knitting together.

Yeah, didn’t look like they were getting along, especially if Stretch insisted that black currant was delicious and Dakota’s taste buds were the ones that were in need of major readjustments.

Dakota threw the disgusting lollipop over his shoulder, its purple juices making the entire thing stick to the window.

“Not even gonna ask what that is,” Dakota muttered as he started up the car and opened a time portal.

Good thing he knew a shortcut, because he seriously needed to get that lollipop out of his system.

Cavendish privately named this man—no, this unwanted hitchhiking selfish lollipop-stealing vagrant ‘Hoodlum’.

It didn’t matter how loud Cavendish protested. Hoodlum broke every speed limit law in the manual and in all of existence, took bends at two hundred temporometers an hour when the recommended was just fifty, and didn’t check the gauge to make sure they had enough time juice to last the entire trip.

In the span of thirty seconds, the vehicle was caught in the powerful jaws of a T-rex, used as leverage for a sauropod to reach some high-hanging leaves, and battered by an angry Triceratops.

By the time Hoodlum finally got them to the safety of paved 21st-century streets, the time vehicle had been battered and bruised to the point of being a miracle that it functioned.

“What. Was. That?” Cavendish asked flatly, too scared for his life that he couldn’t outwardly express his mortal terror.

“Shortcut through the Mesozoic,” Hoodlum said casually, as if he hadn’t just taken them on a crazy joyride that would’ve made them another statistic to the list of BoTT recruits who didn’t survive the training. “Come on, let’s get some burritos.”

Hoodlum pushed the eject button, and Cavendish was thrown onto the asphalt, his glasses knocked askew from impact.

“Tres burritos, Rita!” Dakota called to a nearby street vendor. “That means three burritos, Rita.”

This miscreant was actively sabotaging Cavendish’s driving test with his reckless, self-serving ways. Who did he think he was anyway? Cavendish’s anger boiled to a breaking point. He was sick and tired of being tossed around like a ragdoll caught in the whimsical fantasies of a child who’d never grown up.

“GREAT GRABKNACKLES! YOU RISKED OUR LIVES FOR A LOUSY BURRITO?” Cavendish stormed up to Hoodlum, pointing an accusing finger in his face. Cavendish ignored the dirty looks Hoodlum and Rita threw his way.

Any sane person would know perfectly well that burritos did not supersede basic self-preservation.

“No, no. I risked our lives for an amazing burrito, so good it only exists in this time and place,” Hoodlum retorted. “You want nachos with yours?”

Cavendish scowled and folded his arms. He would never sink low enough to accept food from Hoodlum. “You would make a terrible partner,” Cavendish snapped, pointedly turning his back to this scoundrel.

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t asking,” Hoodlum replied.

That was the only sensible thing he’d said all day.

Stretch didn’t want a burrito.

Fine, whatever. Dakota tried, at least. Though who in their right mind would turn down an amazing burrito? Literally, an Amazing Burrito. It was right on the sign.

Rita quietly excused herself, not wanting to be part of the awkwardness that permeated the air as Dakota ate and Stretch grumbled.

Stretch seemed to have two speeds: Buzzkill and Even More Buzzkill.

Really, hadn’t this guy ever heard of fun in his life?

“It’s in the manual. Page 9, Paragraph 15, Line 5. ‘A recruit may not use a company vehicle for personal use’,” Stretch quoted.

Dakota had no desire to open the manual and check it himself, but he was pretty sure the manual didn’t have every individual paragraph and line marked. He almost felt bad for Stretch. He didn’t seem to have much of a social life if he memorized everything in that dusty old knickknack.

“THERE ARE RULES, MAN!” Stretch yelled, shoving the manual in Dakota’s face.

For a stickler, Stretch had no qualms about invading personal space and breaking rules on basic politeness.

Dakota had to give the man a point.

“I know, I just choose not to follow them,” Dakota proudly admitted. Rules never did anything for him, so why should he have to obey some stupid list?

“When we get back to our own time, I will be reporting you to the proper authorities,” Stretch said pompously, puffing out his chest in a pitiful attempt to be authoritative.

Really, his spaceman suit was working against him in that regard. It looked more ridiculous than anything.

Besides, the authorities never could make charges stick for long. Robots were so easy to bribe with spare nuts and bolts.

“Not everything’s in that manual. Sometimes you gotta improvise when the unexpected happens-” a strange whooshing noise caught Dakota’s attention, and he craned his neck to see a torrent of water carrying a battered school bus with a rocket sticking out of its roof and—were those kids being dragged behind on a broken back door?

“-like that! Those kids need help!” Dakota shouted, tossing his burrito aside as he leaped out of his seat. “Come on, let’s roll!”

He wasn’t sure how those kids wound up in such a precarious situation, but their bus driver was endangering their lives and not even slowing down so he had to do something!

As he darted toward the car, he suddenly realized how cool it would be if he could leap over the car hood like some inexplicably awesome action hero.

He felt like a regular James Bond, like a jerky 1980s movie protagonist whose trumpets bellowed their theme like they were some god descended to earth and-

He felt that solid concrete hurt.

A lot.

It all happened so fast. One moment they were locked in a vicious argument, then they saw children in peril (an incredibly strange sort of peril, but they called it peril for a reason), then Hoodlum shouted about rescuing them and wound up faceplanting into the asphalt as he tried to leap over the time vehicle’s hood.

If the situation wasn’t so dire, Cavendish would’ve been more than happy to hold it over Hoodlum’s head as karma.

Cavendish buckled himself a scant two seconds before Hoodlum gunned the engine, floored the gas pedal, and crashed through a fence without remorse for destroying public property.

Cavendish found himself not caring that they broke the rules regarding wonton destruction with a time vehicle as outlined on Page 45, Paragraph 6, Lines 3-7.

Fences could be replaced. Children’s lives could not.

As they pursued the school bus at a speed that surely couldn’t be safe for any car, much less a near-totaled one, Cavendish caught a glimpse of the panicked expression on Hoodlum’s face. He gripped the wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white as he wildly spun the wheel to avoid oncoming traffic.

Hoodlum didn’t know these kids.

But he would still shatter speed limit laws, risk crashing himself, and refuse to adhere to BoTT’s rules about revealing the existence of time travel before it was invented for them.

Cavendish had a feeling that he sorely misjudged Hoodlum after all.

The rocket propelled the bus into a river, and the children—dear White Cliffs of Dover how were they even holding on at this point—were getting further away every second.

“We’re going to lose them!” Cavendish shouted as the bus careened down the opposite fork in the river.

“Not if I can help it!” Hoodlum yelled, slamming the gas pedal to the floor and pushing their odometer to dangerous levels.

Cavendish clung to his seat for dear life, an uncomfortable pit of dread settling in his stomach that wasn’t just from being airborne and upside-down.

His first mission as a time travel agent would not end in tragedy. He’d never forgive himself if it did.

The moment they landed (right-side up thank goodness) on the opposite bank, the rocket suddenly ignited, pushing the bus and children even further out of their reach.

“They’re going too fast!” Cavendish bit back a curse. They’d been so close that time, yet the chance of a successful rescue had been snatched from their grip.

The water churned and swirled uncontrollably, throwing all sorts of flailing aquatic creatures into the air.

Just their luck, the children and the bus door they’d been riding on went airborne and the rope that tied them to the bus fell away.

Dakota gritted his teeth, massively frustrated that they’d been so close to getting those kids away from danger but failing every single time. “And now they’re airborne,” he griped.

“Wait, we’ll use the Time Delineation gear!” Stretch exclaimed.

Dakota had no idea what Stretch was talking about. They didn’t have time to waste. “The what now?”

“It’s the Time Delineation gear! It allows you to move three times faster than local time! That’s in the manual!” Stretch exclaimed, pulling a lever through a series of ninety-degree turns. A strange power surrounded the time vehicle, bringing everything to a near-complete standstill while Dakota maintained their rapid speed.

Water stood still, animals were suspended in their movement, and the children and door hovered in midair without being subject to gravity.

It was incredible.

If Stretch hadn’t memorized that manual, neither of them would have known about the Time Delineation gear and the children’s lives would be in even greater jeopardy.

When all was said and done, maybe Dakota could borrow Stretch’s manual and see if anything else in there would be useful.

If Stretch was willing to forgive him for the whole burrito thing, that is.

“Whoo-hoo!” Stretch yelled. “We’re actually driving on water!”

Huh. So Stretch could smile after all. Who knew? He looked good.

“Bet that wasn’t in your manual!” Dakota exclaimed.

He leaned forward, giving the car one last burst of speed before they went airborne a second time. The underside of the bus door hit the windshield, and he and Stretch held the door in place with their fingertips. The two children, a boy with an overly-large backpack and a girl with flaming red hair, had frightened expressions on their faces but seemed physically unharmed.

How two elementary-age children wound up in this situation, he had no idea.

Stretch pulled the Time Delineation gear back into its previous position with his free hand, and the timeflow went back to normal.

The rocket finally burned out, thank goodness.

Driving was harder with just one hand, and Dakota nearly rammed into the back of the stopped school bus in front of the elementary school. He was just glad the student driver cars had excellent brakes.

The momentum of their sudden stop caused the children to fly off the windshield and into the safety of the bus, the door slamming shut into place behind them.

Once Dakota and Stretch recovered from nearly hitting the windshield themselves, they sighed in relief.

The return trip to 2168 had been awkward, to say the least. Whether Hoodlum drove at normal speed because he wanted to or because the poor car suffered enough abuse, Cavendish had no clue. After Hoodlum’s reckless yet heroic driving, Cavendish decided to hold his tongue for once and make plans for the imminent future.

Cavendish knew he didn’t have the best track record when it came to working with others. Back when he played piano, he never worked well with an accompanist. Too often those sessions devolved into a screaming match over tempo and dynamics. He’d cultivated a reputation for being uptight and obnoxious in the barrister community.

It would be difficult to work with someone he didn’t know, but he supposed he’d manage. They would just be work partners after all. Their work and personal lives would never intersect.

He was just thankful that the vehicle maintenance department didn’t ask too many questions about the battered state of the car. Apparently, many student driving cars didn’t survive the BoTT driving tests and wound up being used for scrap metal to build cheap robots.

The next day, Cavendish was called into Mr. Block’s office to meet his new partner. Cavendish had passed his test with flying colors. He was lucky they scored him based on how alive he was rather than what he did on the road. If anyone thought to check the vehicle records, they would’ve been horrified by what Hoodlum put the car through. And Cavendish would’ve likely been mistaken for an accomplice.

“Okay, let’s see what we got here,” Mr. Block grunted as Cavendish walked into his office. Cavendish’s heart raced, and he wrung his hands while Mr. Block looked over the official document that stated who Cavendish’s new partner would be. “Recruit number 68427, Cavendish. This is your new partner, Vinnie Dakota.”

A figure stood up from the plush chair in front of Mr. Block’s desk, and Cavendish froze. That afro and leather jacket would forever be burned into his memory.

“Hoo boy,” Hoo-no, his name was Dakota, Cavendish reminded himself. As in North Dakota and South Dakota. Dakota rubbed the back of his head, avoiding Cavendish’s eyes.

“It’s you!” Cavendish gasped.

Fate sure loved her irony.

But Cavendish derived some satisfaction from knowing this was just as awkward for Dakota as it was for him.

Dakota was completely stunned, his eyes flickering between Cavendish and Mr. Block.

A bubble of anger rose up. How dare Dakota show his face here, how dare he act like he didn’t endanger their lives, how dare he pretend saving two kids was nothing, because that was the most courageous act of foolishness Cavendish had ever seen in his life.

“Wait a minute, do you two know each other?” Mr. Block asked suspiciously as Dakota stared at Cavendish as if expecting a tirade on how he would never work willingly with someone who breaks speed limits just because they couldn’t control their hunger.

Cavendish threatened to report Dakota to the proper authorities, and he was always a man of his word.

“Here it comes,” Dakota muttered, resigned to his fate.

“I’ll tell you exactly what I know about this man,” Cavendish said.

There were a million things Stretch could say that would incriminate Dakota right then and there.

Sabotaging a new recruit.

Taking an unauthorized trip through the timestream with a company-owned vehicle.

Using the company-owned vehicle for personal reasons.

Stealing his favorite lollipop.

Reckless driving.

Dakota normally didn’t give a second thought to his rulebreaking, but geez, he was feeling lower than a discarded piece of gum on a leather boot for dragging along an innocent man who could potentially do great things in his future.

“When someone is in trouble, he’s a good man to have around. Balthazar Cavendish, pleased to make your acquaintance, sir,” Stretch said, extending his hand in a formal greeting.

Shocked by Stre-Cavendish’s formality and calm but respectful tone, Dakota stared at the offered hand for several tense seconds before finally grasping it in a firm handshake.

Dakota wasn’t usually forgiven so easily, and Cavendish most definitely struck him as the type to hold a grudge. Still, it beat getting into trouble with the authorities.

On another note, didn’t he see that old surname on bananas at the grocery store?

“Pleased as well. And thanks,” Dakota finally managed.

“Don’t mention it,” Cavendish replied.

“I won’t,” Dakota grinned.

“Though I might,” Cavendish said, his eyes narrowing. “Later.”

Dakota had no doubt that his new partner would indeed follow up on that threat. “I’m sure you will.”

By this point, their handshake was less of a handshake and more just rhythmically moving their arms up and down together.

“Whatever. Get out of my office,” Mr. Block snapped.

Unwilling to be on the receiving end of Mr. Block’s wrath on the first day, they hurried out and the door automatically closed behind them.

“So, partner. What kinda mission do ya think they’re gonna send us on?” Dakota asked. They passed by a secretary’s desk, and Dakota discreetly snagged a cotton candy lollipop from the jar left conveniently on the side.

“Well, I believe they’d start us off with reviewing old cases,” Cavendish mused. “It would help us learn the patterns, see which areas of time require more of a presence, and help us catch the perpetrators who dare mess with the planet and its inhabitants. Which would include evil scientists bent on misusing the field of discovery for nefarious purposes, hunters intending to swipe the most valuable objects in history, and worst of all-”

Cavendish snatched the unwrapped cotton candy lollipop out of Dakota’s hand, stuck it in his mouth, pulled it out, and stuck it on the window behind him in one smooth flourish.

The man was so smooth at revenge.

Dakota felt a light tap along his jaw, and belatedly he realized Cavendish had closed his mouth for him because he was too stunned to do it himself.

“-lollipop thieves who revel in stealing and wasting other people’s favorite food,” Cavendish smirked. “I believe I said I’d mention it later. Don’t look so flabbergasted, man.”

“You are one petty stickler, Cavendish.”

“And you are a reckless hoodlum, Dakota.”

“Square.”

“Carjacker.”

“Stick up your butt.”

“Scoundrel.”

And that’s how Dakota knew it would be the dawn of a beautiful partnership.

#milo murphy's law #balthazar cavendish #vinnie dakota #dakavendish #mml spoilers #fanfiction #oneshot

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